Kousei
by Karasu no Kage
Summary: Shounen ai from CLAMP, Harry Potter, and WeiB Kreuz. Five years after the destruction of Voldemort the wizard's murderer returns to England to face Fudge's hate and the physical and emotional consequences to magic. Shades of Gray Sequel. One more chapter!
1. Who is Kyuu Seika?

Kousei has many meanings, one of which 'fixed star'. When I saw that I knew it was the one. For all the meanings I found for kousei, go to http://www.savergen.com/cgi-bin/onldicjap.cgi . To look up translations of words you look for, go to http://www.savergen.com/onldict/jap.html . They also have a link to a Latin dictionary on the side. I hope you find these sites useful.

This is the sequel to Shades of Gray, and I suggest you read it before you read this, since it may not make sense otherwise. Be warned, though, THIS IS SLASH! (Or at least contains slash… I know I put this under Draco and Harry, because they're the main sub-characters. My original character is my main character.)

Disclaimer: This is THE disclaimer! I don't own JK Rowling's characters, just Alex, Seika, and Malachi. Tsukishiro Yukito and Kinomoto Touya (family name first, so in other words last name first) are anime characters from Card Captor Sakura, which belongs to CLAMP and various others. Also any songs I use, if I use them, do not belong to me unless stated otherwise. All chapters will use this as their disclaimer, whether or not they say it outright, 'cause I'm forgetful.

Kousei

By princessofplanets

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com

Parts: 1 / ?

People screamed in the stands of the Quidditch field, and, though unused to the loud noise, it didn't faze the figure clad in a cape that brushed the grass at their feet. The summer sun blazed in the sky as a light breeze blew gently. Piercing eyes watched as the two teams landed, the home team cheering just as loudly as their fans and holding Harry Potter on their shoulders.

The figure turned abruptly, the large black cloak swirling out behind them as the person strode away before the celebrating witches and wizards could leave the stands in swarms. The person slipped through the shadows silently, entering the building the British team changed out. Shoes clicked against the tile floor, echoing in the large empty hallway until they stopped in front of two guards in front of a door.

"Sorry, sir, you're going to have to wait outside," the larger of the two said. The figure turned its attention to him. Taking off her cloak, the person revealed waist length blonde hair and penetrating blue eyes.

"I'm a girl," she corrected needlessly as she watched the guard blush slightly in embarrassment.

"Sorry, ma'am," he replied. "But no one can go through these doors. If you want an autograph you're going to have to come back later."

Something twanged the woman's senses, and she turned her head to listen to it. "The people you're paid to keep out are coming," she informed the tall guard. "I, however, don't care about autographs. I'm a police officer, and it's necessary that I speak with Mr. Potter."

The two guards looked at her suspiciously. With her large cloak slung over her right arm, and in a black halter-top, black jeans, black boots, and strange black gloves, she didn't look like a cop. "Lemme see your id," the second guard, also a man, said warily. Reaching into her left pocket, the woman pulled it out and flipped it open, handing it to the man easily.

"Seika Kyuu?! REALLY?!" The man's caution immediately turned to awe. "You're the one who–"

"That would be me," Seika said calmly, taking the id back before the man could finish. "Now, it's quite important that I speak to Mr. Harry Potter. I've been told he's right through those doors. May I please see him?"

"Of course, of course!" the man gushed, opening the door to allow her access. "But first, could I ask you something?" The blonde looked up, bewildered. "Can I have you're autograph?" The girl blinked in surprise.

"Okay…" she said doubtfully. She was passed a piece of paper and a pen, and she quickly wrote her name in Japanese characters, kanji. Then she quickly translated it into romanjii, writing beneath it, Kyuu Seika. "There you go!" Nodding at his repeated thanks, the girl quickly made her way down the hall, then squirmed her way in between reporters so she could get through the door they were blocking.

They shouted at her that, "No one's allowed in there!" as she entered the locker room, closing the door quickly behind her. The six out of the seven players present frowned at her, only half out of confusion.

"Sorry, but no one's allowed in here," Chaser Angelina Johnson said politely. "Interviews are going to have to wait.

"I'm not here for an interview," Seika stated calmly. "I'm a member of the Tokyo police; I'm here to speak with Mr. Potter." The six players looked worried, then once again confused.

"Harry's never been to Tokyo!" One of the beaters protested, the other quickly agreeing with him.

"How could Harry be in trouble with the Tokyo police if he's never been to Tokyo?!" another Chaser demanded.

"Look, I just said I was a member of the Tokyo police, not that I was here on busi --- " Her cloak dropped, and the third Chaser watched carefully as she bent to retrieve it. Eyes widening in fear and shock, he quickly pounded a button by him that would call security.

Instantly the men Seika had met earlier were in the room. "What's going on here?" the larger man demanded.

"She wanted to speak with Harry and she has the Dark Mark!" the man accused. Seika's eyes hardened for a moment, almost unnoticeably as the guards drew their wands.

"Well, is that true?" the shorter man asked, both of them once again on their guard. Wordlessly the woman exposed her right inner arm, revealing a jagged and distorted version of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth – the sign that was the Dark Mark. "So you ARE a Death Eater!"

"NO!" Seika snapped. "I am not, have not, and never will be a Death Eater!"

"What the HELL is going on out here?!" The blonde's breath caught at the familiar voice. Slowly the girl turned her eyes to the speaker before blushing deeply and forcing her irritated attention to the floor. Draco Malfoy was the speaker, and it was clear he and Harry had just stepped out of the shower, since they were both dripping wet and wore only towels wrapped around their waists. She could barely register the voices around her, but when the raven-haired Seeker spoke she caught his voice immediately and tensed.

"He's just irritated because it was your screams that interrupted our shower, not his."

Seika's flush deepened at his words. "Harry no hentai*!" she murmured beneath her breath. _Harry you pervert!_

"Look, if I've told you guys once I've told you a thousand times --- Alex trapped all the Death Eaters when she killed Voldemort!" Draco snapped. "I've been searching for them for the past three years since we've been out of school – there aren't any left!"

"Whether there are or not, she has the Dark Mark!" Seika's head was started to pound from the shouting. Despite that, she watched carefully as Harry, not seeming to mind all he had on was a white towel slung across his waist, made his way toward her.

"You have the Dark Mark?"

"Yes."

"And you came here to talk to me."

"Yes."

"Why?" Harry demanded. Seika studied his face for a moment, his startlingly bright green eyes stark against his dripping black hair that covered the lightening bolt shaped scar she knew was there.

"I have my reasons," she said coolly, smirking when she saw Harry start to fume. "I don't restate what I see to be obvious."

"What is obvious to you may not be so obvious to everyone else," he said irritably.

"Mr. Potter, if you stop to think for just one moment it should be perfectly clear."

"You know him, don't you?" Draco inquired, now entering the interrogation.

"Of course, O--" She stopped herself mid-word, changing what she was going to say to, "Everyone knows Harry Potter."

"I meant personally."

At the intense expression on the man's face, Seika couldn't help but laugh. "You never change, do you, Onii-chan?" His face froze in recognition, and he started examining her familiar grin carefully, though it was not an expression he normally saw on her face. "Impossible…" he breathed softly.

Seeing his lover's expression, Harry snapped to attention. "What are you doing?!" he demanded angrily. Seika shrugged, her expression suddenly defensive as the man approached her.

"Nothing! I don't even have a wand!" Draco's grin widened.

"Of course you wouldn't!" he exclaimed, making no sense whatsoever. He swiftly moved over to her, pulling her into a tight hug. Seika blinked in confusion and embarrassment, more than slightly uncomfortable to have the half-naked man holding her. Harry's jaw dropped.

"Wha…?"

"Draco!" the girl choked out with difficulty. "Can't… breathe…!" Still grinning widely the Auror pulled back.

"Alexandra Star how dare you not write!" he chided the woman.

"I… was busy?" she said weakly, asking him rather than telling him.

"ALEX?!" Harry exclaimed in disbelief.

"You really could have written!" Draco scolded again.

"Gomen nasai!" she said breathlessly. "Please, please, PLEASE don't hurt me!" She crossed her arms into an X in front of her, peeking out between her two hands with worry.

"ALEX?!" Harry repeated again, this time seeing the similarities between the fifteen-year-old girl and the twenty-year-old woman. Immediately he pulled her into hug, trapping her arms between their bodies.

Again a blush spread across Alex's face. "Ano…" *Um…* " 'Ry-chan…"

"You never USED to blush, Alex, what's up with that?" Draco demanded.

"I didn't spend my time with two half-naked men, that's what!" she snapped back, the red shade of her face deepening.

"Hmm, I suppose we should get dressed, shouldn't we?" Harry inquired, glancing at Draco. The blonde man nodded

"Don't move," he ordered the other blonde as he turned and headed back toward the changing rooms.

"I have a choice?" she murmured to herself, sitting down on an open space on the bench with a sigh.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So how long have you been in England?" Harry asked curiously. Alex kept her eyes steadily on the road, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"We flew in three days ago," she said shortly. "It took us that long to adjust to the time change; we'd already found an apartment before coming."

"Who's we?" Draco wondered aloud. "You and your *BOYFRIEND*?!" The blue eyed woman just grinned as she carefully parked her silver car in the parking lot of a restaurant.

"I'm so glad that in Nihon – Japan – people also drive on the left side of the road," she said. "Otherwise I'd forget how to drive!"

"You ARE here with your boyfriend, aren't you?!" the man exclaimed. Alex slammed the car door shut in response, smirking as he continued his cross-examination. "What's his name? How old is he? What's he look like? Is he hot?"

"Draco Malfoy, you're worse than a teenage girl!" the blonde said as she laughed. Her laughter was interrupted by another familiar voice.

"ALEX!" A woman waved at her, with one arm offering her three-year-old son to her husband.

"Hey, Hermione!" she called back, walking swiftly to the couple. The brunette pulled the blonde into a hug, after which Ron awkwardly shook her hand, shifting the baby's weight. "And this must be John**!" She started cooing at the baby, grinning when it giggled back at her.

"It's SO nice to see you! It's been so long!" Hermione gushed. Alex nodded sorrowfully.

"Too long," she murmured quietly. Then she shook off the gloominess and smiled once again. "We had better get inside, Toya and Yuki will be waiting." She strode into the dark restaurant with confidence, the four people behind her following in slight confusion. As she approached a man behind the counter, she pointedly ignored his disapproving look at her attire.

"May I help you, Miss?" he asked, scorn in his voice.

"Reservations for Kyuu Seika," she said in a cold tone. The man narrowed his glare at her.

"May I see some id, Miss?" Harry looked outraged, while Draco looked like he was about to strangle the man for questioning his best friend. Silently the blonde handed it to him, watching him skip over the artfully shaped kanji characters and move his attention to the English translation. "Forgive me, Miss Seika!" he said quickly and apologetically, fumbling with his tie. "It's just regulation, Miss, in case someone might try to steal your identity."

"Right," Alex said noncommittally. "Are Misters Kinomoto and Tsukishiro here?"

"Ah, yes, Miss," the man said, bowing slightly to her repeatedly. "I assume this is the rest of your party, Miss?"

"Yes. Could you please take me to the table?" she inquired politely.

"Ah, yes, of course, Miss." Inwardly she rolled her eyes at the man's ridiculousness, while outwardly she showed only a stoic-like expression. The only clue of her frustration to her friends was her tightly clenched fists. The man led her to a large circular table where one tall man and another significantly shorter were already seated quickly, seeing them seated before backing away from the blonde woman with an expression akin to fear. "Ah, I will have someone with you right away, Miss."

The shorter man, a twenty-year-old with grayish-black hair, large glasses over gentle brown eyes, and a bright smile, greeted Alex first. "Konnichi'wa, Seika."

"Konnichi'wa," she responded in an irritated tone. The taller man with a sharply angular face, messy dark brown hair, and brown eyes raised an eyebrow. He said something in Japanese, to which Alex exploded in reply, "He was AFRAID of me!" indicating her desire to speak in English around her British friends.

"I had thought you had gotten used to it," the brown haired man commented airily. The other man frowned and said something in a rebuking tone. The reprimanded one looked like he was about to say something, though he stopped and asked in flowing English, "Seika, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Of course," she said, sighing as she forced her encounter to the back of her mind. "Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron," she gestured to each person as she spoke, "these are my close friends and roommates Yukito-san," the blonde indicated to the shorter man who smiled and nodded, "and Touya-san." She waved a hand at the taller brown haired man.

"It's nice to meet you," they all said politely in chorus, though not in unison.

"I thought you called them Toya and Yuki?" Ron said. The blonde's blue eyes flashed to Yukito's and Touya's with amusement in them.

"Formalities, Ron. San is the polite suffix – I've known Yuki and Toya a whole lot longer than you have." She smiled at the still-baffled redhead.

"Okay…" he agreed. Catch-up chatter filled the table while Touya and Yukito talked between themselves. After they ordered their food a hush shrouded the table, mainly after hearing Touya's long list of foods, which was almost DOUBLED when Yukito started his list.

"So which one is your lover?" Draco asked finally, breaking the silence. Alex choked on the tea she had preordered while Yukito, who was sitting next to her, patted her on the back carefully. "Is it Yukito-san?"

"If he was I would have to kill her," Touya stated calmly. Hermione frowned in confusion for a moment, but Harry and Draco just nodded in understanding.

"Ah," the brunette said a moment later. She frowned as she thought to herself, _I can't believe I didn't see that earlier. But I suppose being Muggle-born can make you automatically think everyone's straight._

"Now you see why I laughed," Alex commented as she once again picked up her cup of green tea. She grimaced slightly as she tasted it. "*NOTHING* like the real thing," she murmured to herself.

"Alex, isn't it rude to wear gloves at the table?" Harry asked mindlessly, confused when he saw his old friend freeze. "What?" he asked. "It's not like I asked you to strip down at the table!"

"It's something like that," she murmured softly under her breath. Seeing the raven-haired Seeker's face, she sighed. "Yeah, sure. I'll take them off," she said, addressing him.

Touya and Yukito frowned in worry. "You don't have to do it, Seika," the shorter man murmured in his native language.

"You have no idea what you could come in contact with," Touya warned, also in Japanese.

"Don't worry," she murmured back in her adopted tongue. She carefully tugged her silk black gloves off gently. Her palms tingled as they came in contact with the air making her shiver. She blinked in surprise when the waitress carefully started arranging food on the table, so caught up was Alex in her 'unveiling'. Hesitantly she picked up her chopsticks.

Hermione laughed suddenly, sounding slightly uncomfortable. "Listen to us!" she exclaimed. "We should be asking Alex what's been happening with her, not babbling about ourselves!"

"Either way," the woman said with a smile. "You can ask me whatever you like." The young mother seemed hesitant. She started to say something, then stopped abruptly. "What is it, Hermione?" Alex asked. The woman shook her head.

"Nothing," she assured her school friend. "Besides, it would be rude."

"Go ahead, ask me," the blonde urged. When she heard it, however, she froze and a part of her wished she hadn't insisted.

"Why did you get Harry and Draco together?"

Alexandra blinked in confusion. "I'm their friend, I want to see them happy."

"Yeah, it's just… Well, I always got the impression you had a thing for Harry, so it sort of surprising when you paired him off – and with DRACO, no less!" Here was where the woman's eyes flashed with worry.

"Alex? Have a thing for *ME*?!" Harry repeated in disbelief. "This is *ALEX*, guys, she'd never have a thing for ME!"

Alex's position hadn't changed, her eyes carefully blank, her lips parted slightly in surprise, and her hand frozen in the act of lifting her tea cup to her mouth. The raven-haired Seeker's loud laughter at the ridiculousness of the statement echoed in her ears. "Actually I did." At her quiet words Harry stopped in shock.

"Really?"

"He's MY boyfriend!" Draco warned, pulling the man in possessively. Alex nodded, averting her gaze.

"I know."

"You really had a thing for me?" Harry pressed again. Once again the blonde nodded. "Wow," he said reflectively. Then he gloated, "Everyone likes me."

The silvery haired man scowled at his boyfriend. "You shouldn't laugh at her feelings."

"Come on, Dray, it was only a crush!" he responded. "Wasn't it, Alex?"

"… Of course," she said quietly. As the couple continued to talk, the woman handed the waitress her credit card. When it was returned she stood. "We had better go, minna." _Everyone._ "I still have one more person I'd like you to meet."

"He couldn't make it to lunch?" Ron inquired.

"She," Alex corrected. "No, she couldn't make it to lunch. Which is why we're going back to my apartment – our apartment – " she amended, seeing her roommates pointed looks, "to meet her."

"Do you think she could meet us at our house?" Hermione asked doubtfully. "I mean, ours is baby proof…"

"Don't worry about it," the blonde reassured the other woman. "I promise you my house is baby proof. Normally I would agree, but my guest is currently without a car, so she wouldn't be able to get there. John will be fine, I promise." Hermione still looked doubtful, but nodded. As they left the restaurant, the eight separated into three groups.

In Alex's car, at least, talking was at a minimum, Draco and Harry sensing her nervousness. They commented vaguely on the nice apartment complex as they entered it with the others, but other than that were wrapped in their individual thoughts. The blonde fumbled slightly with the key, muttering darkly under her breath in Japanese as she finally shoved the door open, revealing scattered toys in the small hallway to the main rooms.

Instinctively she, Touya, and Yukito slipped off their shoes and set them carefully by the door. Alex bent down and began picking up toys, calling into the room, "Tadaima!" _I'm home!_

"Hello!" a woman's voice called from inside the apartment. "Just wait a sec! I'm trying to get–"

"Okaeri!" A girl no more than five years old ran toward them in a towel, her dripping blonde hair hitting her back with wet thuds. "MOMMY!" she cried, attaching to Alex's legs happily.

TO BE CONTINUED… (Cause if you're a baka – idiot – like me it takes you ten minutes or longer to figure out what TBC means. ^_^ )

Sorry all these author's notes are so long, but they are IMPORTANT; there's just a LOT you all need to know.

* Technically, hentai is the word for NC-17, or explicit sex. Ecchi is pervert, but I thought hentai fit better in that situation. ^_^

** This is for my friend Angel, who was ranting last weekend about how all (or at least the majority) of the guys named John she knew hated her, one of which is my brother. ^_~ .

As for Alex's Japanese name, Kyuu Seika, technically it's one word. Kyuuseika means astrology or star reader. You can find Japanese vocabulary at http://www.trussel.com/f_nih.htm . I hope you find these helpful!

I hope you all liked the first chapter of Kousei! **_Please_** review! I love any and all feedback!


	2. Past Explained

Kousei

By princessofplanets

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com

Parts: 2 / ?

The other people stared in shock, barely listening as the woman who must have been the babysitter came into the front room and apologized for the mess in the hallway.

"You came home early, and I had to give her a bath before I could clean up," the black teenager explained with a smile, though a slightly worried expression flitted behind it. Alex waved it off.

"Don't worry about it. Now, how much do you think is fair?" she inquired. The girl shrugged.

"Does ten and a half pounds sound fair?" she asked hesitantly. Alex blinked, then turned to Yukito and murmured something to him quickly in Japanese.

"It's about 1,920 yen," he converted quickly in English.

"That sounds fair," the blonde agreed, reaching into her pocket for the money. She shifted the young girl now in her arms carefully as she dug the money out of her pocket.

"Uh, Alex? Since when do you have a kid?" Draco asked hesitantly. 

"When did you get married? Where's your husband? Which one of these two is your husband?" Touya rolled his eyes and grabbed Yukito, pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"OUT! GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Alex shrieked at the two, neither of which was paying attention to her. Finally she sighed and started shoving them toward the bedroom. "And you two had better keep quiet in there, I have guests!" She hissed quietly to them. "Does that answer your question?" she asked Ron exasperatedly. She muttered to herself, "WHY do those guys have to do that in my house?"

Touya's head popped out of his room. "It's OUR house too, you know!"

The blonde threw a pillow at his head, which disappeared back into the dark room. "WHY IS IT THAT YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME UNLESS I DON'T MEAN YOU TO?!" she wailed.

"Alex, back to the original question. Where is your husband?!" Ron demanded. 

"Well, uh…you guys must be really hungry. Would you like something to eat?" Alex asked nervously.

"We just ate, Alex," Hermione reminded her sternly.

"Heh, heh…. Imagine that." Alex fidgeted with her hands. "How about you all have a seat?"

The other people followed Alex as she led them to the living room. They all sat down. 

"Well, I don't know how to say this. I don't have a husband," Alex said in a rushed tone.

"Oh, so you're divorced? I'm so sorry!" Hermione gushed.

"HECK NO, SHE HASN'T EVEN HAD A BOYFRIEND YET!" Touya shouted through the closed door.

"JUST SHUT UP AND GO BACK TO… to…." It suddenly dawned on her what they were doing in there. "Uh, TO WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING BACK THERE THAT I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT!" Everyone else in the room gaped. She paced for a moment before calling out, "TOYA! Could you PLEASE take Aya and John to a movie?" her voice was strained.

There was a long silence and some muffled arguing before Yukito called back, "We'll be just a minute while we get dressed, Seika." Alex choked and flushed before tightening her grip on her daughter. _I can't BELIEVE I depend on these guys. If Aya ever walks in on them messing around, I swear… They may be my closest friends since I went to Japan, but if that happens then they are my punching bags._

Touya and Yukito left the room. "You OWE us big," the brown haired man growled at her as they left, each of them holding one of the children.

"Alex, you just come in at the WORST times, don't you?" Draco asked dryly once the couple left. "I feel sorry for those two, I mean, you interrupted MY shower with Harry – " Harry blushed a beet red and hit his boyfriend, who ignored him, " – and THEY have to LIVE with you!"

Ron let out a frustrated sigh. "BACK to the topic at hand PLEASE?! Who's the damn father of the kid?"

Alex tensed. "I… I don't know."

"HOW THE HELL CAN YOU NOT KNOW?!" Draco demanded.

"Sheesh, did you sleep with that many guys?!" Harry asked bluntly. Alex's smile tightened.

"Not exactly."

"So how come you don't know him?!" Ron insisted.

"You don't just have a kid without knowing who the father is!" Hermione shrieked. "Believe me, it's quite obvious!"

"Not if you were raped." Silence fell over the room, and the previously frustrated faces melted into concern and horror.

"My God," Hermione breathed softly. Ron sat in shock.

"When did this happen?"

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Draco interrogated.

Alex inhaled deeply. "I was raped on the way over to Japan, during the twenty-four-hour layover in New York."

"But… But…" Hermione stuttered. "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you get an abortion?!"

"You forget, 'Mione, this was right after I murdered Voldemort. I was already REALLY depressed because of that. I believe in peace, and yet I had killed someone. I couldn't have handled having another death on my hands at that time, especially someone who had never done anything to me. Aya couldn't help that her father was a rapist."

"But WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!?!?!" Ron demanded.

"It was summer; I didn't know where you were. Not to mention I didn't have an owl, and the whole reason I was leaving was to start over. Not to sound mean to you guys. I still cared for you all deeply, but I had to get out." She laughed slightly here. "Besides, the Japanese take to a pregnant fifteen year old a lot better than the British."

Just then, the door flew open. "HEEELLLOOOO!!!" caroled a high-pitched voice. "I'myournewneighborwhat'syournamemineisSerenaMillerwellitwasnicetomeetyoubye!!" Just as suddenly, the blonde whirlwind flew out the door. The group of people left in the wake of the storm stared in confusion at the open door, which was swinging slightly from the wind of the girl's passing. 

"Wha…what was that?" asked Harry slowly.

"I don't know. I didn't understand what she said." Just then, Touya and Yukito came in, Touya carrying a sleeping Aya and Yukito carrying John. 

"You know, you guys are so cute! You two should get married and have kids!" Alex exclaimed.

"You do know that one's illegal and the other is physically impossible, right?" Touya asked sarcastically.

Alex blinked in surprise. "Having kids is illegal? Uh oh, I should hide Aya."

Touya groaned and changed the subject. "Did you just meet that girl, Serena Miller? She lives right next door. Isn't that nice? Now you don't have to interrupt us all the time to watch Aya-chan. Both the kids fell asleep before we got to the theater, and we couldn't find any good make-out or action movies, so we came home. Here." He handed the children to their respective mothers, and dragged Yukito back into the bedroom. From inside the room they heard, "You know, Toya, maybe we should have kids…" followed by a thunk. 

"…I'm confused," Draco complained.

"You're not the only one," said Alex.


	3. Alex vs. Fudgy

Kousei

By princessofplanets and Angel

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com and taura12@hotmail.com 

Part 3 / ?

While Hermione, Ron, Draco, Harry and Alex tried to figure what had just happened, an owl flew in through the window. Ron, the addressee, quickly tore it open. His eyes scanned it quickly. "SHIT!"

"What happened?" Harry asked, as Hermione cried out, "RON!" 

"Sorry, sorry, it's just that something came up at the Ministry." Ron said, distractedly, scanning the rest of the letter. 

"Do you mind telling us? After all, we all work in the same place," Draco said dryly. 

"Apparently, some Muggle's found their way into Diagon Alley." Shocked silence fell over the room for a moment, before being broken by Alex, Draco and Harry simultaneously shouting, "WHAT?!" Unfortunately, this woke up John, who started to wail at the top of his lungs. Hermione frantically tried to calm him down, walking back and forth across the room. Ron continued reading the letter.

"We're all needed there," he said, then flinched at his words. "Uh, I mean, Harry, Draco, Hermione, and I were requested…" 

Alex smiled at his discomfort. "Don't worry about it, Ron. They don't know that I'm here, remember? But, if you don't mind, I'd like to accompany you," she said. 

Ron shrugged. "I guess you can come, but you'll have to be discreet."

The blonde grinned, calling to Touya, "TOYA! GET OUT HERE AND WATCH THE KIDS!" A low growl was her answer. Sighing with impatience, she threw open the door and stomped into the dark room. Sounds of scuffling reached the living room before a triumphant yell was heard. "NOW – GET – OFF – HIM – YUUUUKKKKKIIII!"

"AAARRRGGGG! TOYA! GET OFF HIM!!! CAN'T YOU STAY AWAY FROM EACH OTHER FOR FIVE SECONDS?!" Hermione blushed at Alex's wail, trying to avert her eyes as Alex was thrown forcefully out of the room. "Yuki, that was unfair!" she pouted as the door closed and noises coming from the room indicated that the couple began to get dressed.

"Uh, Alex?" Hermione asked weakly, cradling John away from the blonde. "Shouldn't you have waited for them to get dressed?"

"If I waited that long we'd be here forever."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alex's piercing blue eyes watched carefully from under her cloak. She unconsciously glared at the British Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. As she listened to the story, she frowned, wondering who the Muggle was.

"Friday night, a female Muggle was seen in Diagon Alley at 7:47. She was looking around in Ollivander's, who contacted the Ministry after she left to avoid attracting her attention." Once again Fudge's gaze wandered toward the caped figure in the shadows.

"Unfortunately, she left the alley before the Ministry arrived. Now she's somewhere in London with the knowledge that magic exists. I've called upon you four to take on this mission."

"Fudge, you watch too many corny detective movies," Alex interjected wryly. His gaze shot back to her.

"Who do you think you are to stand in on a Ministry meeting?!" he demanded angrily.

She laughed softly. "Kyuu Seika desu." _I am Seika Kyuu._ "I'm a new detective for the London police. I specialize in murder cases." She could feel disturbed gazes upon her from the others in the room. She stepped out of the shadows and flipped her badge to the Minister. "I just moved from Tokyo," she stated.

"What are you doing here? Muggles aren't allowed here!"

"_If_ I were a Muggle not only would I be dead several times over but I wouldn't have nearly been murdered by you."

"I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU IN MY LIFE!" Cornelius said defensively.

"Not even after the death of Voldemort?" her soft statement cut through the silence of the room. "I am also known as Alexandra Star… The murderer and creation of Voldemort. Do you recognize me now, Minister?"

Fudge stared at her in shock, fear slipping over his features. "You… You can't be…!"

She snorted softly. "Yeah, right." She shook her head in frustration. "Kutabare, Minister, for all you've done to myself and others. If it weren't for your stupidity and blindness we could have saved hundreds of lives that were lost." _Drop dead._

"… You have no right to say that!" the Minister protested angrily.

"Burn in hell."

Fudge's eyes widened and flashed with anger before he turned away stiffly. "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. You have your orders. I expect you to be done with your mission by 2200 hours tomorrow." 

He was interrupted by a sardonic laugh. "Fudge, you really have been watching too many crappy detective movies. You should watch some quality stuff, like _Dude, where's my car?_." Draco imagined the sarcasm dripping from her voice landing in a puddle on the floor.

__

We'd all drown in it, he thought speculatively.

Irritation appeared in Fudge's face. "GUARDS!! ARREST HER!"

As five large men approached her, Alex said lazily, "Fudgy dear, you do realize that I _AM _the police, don't you?" When his face turned purple and the men still didn't back off, she added, "I _COULD_ destroy the galaxy to prove my strength, if you want, but it's really your choice."

Frustration seeped into her expression as the men continued forward. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she focused inwardly. A red blaze appeared behind her closed eyelids, and she could feel the heat from it burning through her veins. Without warning the flames burst into existence, scorching her hands but passing through her gloves as they danced around her.

The men drew in loud breaths and backed away even though the Minister continued to yell. Watching the men leave through cold blue eyes, she abruptly allowed the fire to dissipate. "Remember that when you cross me next time. I don't have patience when dealing with closed minded fools."


	4. First British Job

Kousei

By princessofplanets and Angel

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com and taura12@hotmail.com

Part 4 / ?

* * * FLASHBACK * * *

__

'Oh WOW! What a HOT GUY! I wonder if he's free? Though, he has a really strange sense of fashion. What's with the robes? Are they pajamas or something? Why would he go out in his pajamas? Hey, wait! Where's he going?' _Serena walked quickly after the hot guy, amazingly not tripping over anything. She followed him into a small pub, barely taking in its strange occupants. She followed the man with determination, following him mindlessly as he brought out a stick and tapped on a brick wall._

"… Ok, so he's a freak… But he's a HOT freak! Ok, then!_" All of a sudden the brick that was touched quivered and a quickly growing hole appeared in its center. A moment later, the archway created by the hole opened into a cobbled street. _"OOOOOOOOOH!" _the blonde gaped at the busy street, turning all directions at once to take in everything. Noticing an unusual button in the wall of a building she squealed, _"OOOOOOH! WHAT DOES _THIS_ BUTTON DO?"_ and with a childlike glee she poked it. Quickly, she turned and skipped down the lane, completely ignoring the loud _"BOOM!" _and burst of flames behind her._

She grinned widely at the cats, owls, and frogs in the window of a pet shop. "HELLO, Froggie!" _she said in her high-pitched voice. Continuing on her journey, she stopped in confusion before a dark stick shop. _"Why isn't anyone here?" 

__

An old man with pale eyes stepped out from the shadows. "Would you like me to help you find a … stick… for your enjoyment?"_ the man said in a misty voice._

"OOH! A stick! It sounds like so much fun!" _Serena shrieked in happiness. Olivander blinked. He turned and began searching through the boxes._

Ten minutes later, they found the perfect 'stick'. Waving it around, Serena laughed with delight. "Abracadabra POOF!"_ Without warning, the strange old man disappeared. _"DANK OO!"_ {Thank you!} Happily, she left the shop and bounced back into the busy streets of London._

Ten hours later, Olivander reappeared with a look of frustration on his face. Crushing a wand in his fist, he left to inform the Ministry of the Muggle's disturbance.

* * * END FLASHBACK * * *

Serena twirled the foot-long stick like a baton between her fingers. "Hmm…" she thought. "What kind of fun can I have with my stick? OH! I KNOW!" she exclaimed as she figured out what she'd do. "I can go bug my hot neighbors! How fun!"

She rushed out of her apartment and slammed open the door of the next one. She blinked in surprise as she saw her two 'hot neighbors' making out on the couch, an exasperated blonde pounding them with pillows. "Oh," she said dejectedly. "I guess I won't have a chance with these two! OH, WELL!"

She turned, and hopped out of the room. 

Alex sighed. "YOU GUYS! Stop! You have to help me wake up Aya! I can't let her see you two like this! Besides, I have to leave for work. For that matter, so should you!" 

Touya pulled away from Yukito for a moment, and said, "Today's Saturday. Neither of us work today, remember? Now go away!" 

"_I_ have to work, baka! GET UP!" _Idiots!_ Finally, she managed to pull Touya off, and held him back from his boyfriend. "Yuki, go put a shirt on and wake up Aya! Toya, go make my lunch!"

"What am I, you slave?"

"Yes, I'm your slave driver. You should be happy I am not sex-obsessed."

Touya paled at the mental image. "Bad thoughts! Fine, I'll go make your stupid lunch. But it's not my fault if you're poisoned from it, got it?" Still muttering angrily, he stomped into the kitchen.

"Thank you, Toya! Oh, and clear your evening schedule, would you? I think you'll be busy." Alex smirked as she heard him scream in frustration and throw a pot into the living room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alex glanced up from her desk as the Chief of the London Police approached her. "We have a case for you, Kyuu. You're needed at Trafalgar Square ten minutes ago."

A look flashed quickly over her eyes before she nodded affirmatively. "I'm on it." As she drove through the busy streets, she mentally prepared herself for the scene. _It's so odd for a murder to be in such a populated area, though…. They should have plenty of witnesses without me…._

She arrived at the scene of the crime minutes later, and slipped through the crowd. She was silently thankful that she again had worn black, eyeing the blood on the stones and statue with disinterest. Alex carefully kept her face expressionless as she approached the police lines and the victim's body. The man was sprawled face up on the blood-covered stones, a large and bloody hole through the victim's chest. Immediately, she scanned the body for auras other than its own. She frowned when she sensed it, turning her attention silently to the large amounts of people. A cold feeling seeped into her bones as she felt it. _SEISHIROU-SAN NO BAKA!_ she thought angrily to herself. _{Seishirou you idiot!}_ Ignoring the police for a moment, she glared at a tall man in a suit. _I'll be talking to you later,_ she warned him darkly.

Seishirou smirked._ In half an hour I have a date with Subaru-kun,_ he thought, knowing she would hear it.

__

Well, I don't seem to have problem crashing dates, parties, make-out sessions… You don't want to know what I've seen and crashed.

You would, Seika-chan.

Shut up, you idiot, and don't worry, I'll find you. The older man could hear her evil grin in her voice as she thought, _You can't hide from me!_

Returning her attention to her job, she frowned. She could deal with this one of two ways: having Seishirou find a murderer she could frame, which was unlikely since she was going to break his date, or she could alter the crowd's and policemen's memories. The blonde examined the area carefully. _If I alter their memories… I could make it so he died in a motorcycle accident. And then he could have been hurt by that, then impaled by the statue… Or is that too gory? Could blood get as scattered around in just an accident?_ She pondered it silently, building up power with a mental sigh.

__

Sometimes I hate my work.


	5. Death

MANY THANKS AGAIN TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED!

WARNING: The yaoi (or slash, in English… or at least, not in Japanese… ^_^ ) is now coming in. You've been warned. ^_^ .

PS ~ the word 'ne' is sort of like an agreement, or 'eh'… you know, that kind of random word stuck into a phrase. ^_^

Shades Of Gray

By princessofplanets

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com

Part 5 / 9

Harry paced the length of the dorm room again. It had been almost three weeks since he cast a spell on the wall to see Alex in bed with Draco, and two weeks since he decided he had been jealous of Draco -- _MALFOY!_ -- not Alex. It was only a week and a half to Halloween, and he had yet found a date for the dance. Throwing a quick glance to the mirror, he carefully made sure his hair was in place before heading down the stairs.

Alex glanced up as she heard a person entering the Common Room, smiling at Harry before returning to her conversation with Hermione. "Don't worry! It's nice to know that a couple of guys are interested in you, ne?"

"Yeah, definitely," the brunette agreed. "Too bad I'm going with Ron!"

"Mm," Alex agreed. "I – "

"Alex, can I talk to you?" The blonde blinked in surprise, almost as much over the question as the strange look flashing in Harry's emerald eyes.

"Yeah, sure… I guess." With a quick, wildly confused glance back at her female friend, the fifteen-year-old cautiously followed the Boy Who Lived – in a way that almost suggested she was a rabbit going into a wolf's den. "So… what's up?" Alex was twisting her hands nervously in front of her, and her breathing was uneven. She prayed to any and every god she had heard of that what she sensed from his mind was inaccurate, and she viciously tried to close her mind within its own walls.

There was a long uncomfortable -- for Alex -- silence in which Harry examined his friend's terrified gaze carefully. "I want you to go to the Halloween Dance with me."

The world swayed violently under the blonde's feet as she attempted to process the information quickly and emotionlessly. Before they were entirely under control, however, wind, water, fire, and earth responded to the feelings, howling, roaring, cackling, and rumbling in response to their turbulence.

__

This **HAD** to come now, didn't it?! Her cheeks flushed hot and cold as her thoughts behaved like a roller coaster. After a long moment, she thought, _Well, he certainly was romantic with that suggestion, wasn't he?_ Shaking her head briefly to physically tear her from her thoughts, she grit her teeth as she replied. "I'm sorry, but I already have plans."

Then, startlingly, the raven-haired teenager exploded. "They're with Malfoy, aren't they?"

"W — what?"

"I saw you with him! Don't try to deny it! I bet you've slept with him too!" Harry was now sounding almost wild, and the surrounding Gryffindors looked up in shock.

Alex's head was aching from lack of blood and the yelling in the room added on top of her psychic awareness of Voldemort's building armies. "God, is there no way to win on this planet?!" Inwardly she was laughing at her situation. Her best friend, who she was in love with, thought she was shagging one of her other best friends. "Yes, I've slept with him, ok? But not in the way your gutter-mind is thinking of – even if I wanted to I wouldn't…" Words stopped pouring out of her mouth when she realized she couldn't yet explain the situation. _Even if I could,_ she thought idly, _I'd blush to the bone if I ever thought about repeating **THAT** sentence aloud!_

"Look, Harry, the plans… They aren't with anyone, but I want it to be at least a semi-surprise, so…" She fell silent as she noticed her friend's anger. "Fine, come on," she ordered as she grabbed his elbow and started dragging him toward the portrait hole. The blonde frowned as he resisted, then concentrated on teleporting them into the hallway. 

"Come ON!" she ordered again, this time pushing him forward as she mentally scanned the school for Draco's aura. In a moment she recognized that he was in their room, their secret place that was hidden from all others. As she marched determinedly forward, the wall transformed into a door and leapt open at her brief password – "Edro" – which was Elvish for open. Draco glanced up in surprise from the bed, an expression that changed to pure shock as he saw who followed her.

"Star, what the hell are you thinking?!" he demanded. She flinched slightly, knowing he was mad at her if he was using her surname. Alex rubbed her head slightly self-consciously, her fingers massaging the area where the star she had named herself after was hidden. As her fingers left the center of her forehead her anger returned.

"Look, Draco, I've had enough of this. If you don't tell Harry now I will."

The silver-haired boy's silver eyes were flashing. "Alex, are you crazy? I can't do that; you *WON'T* do that!"

"Just watch me!" she dared. His eyes quickly darted between the blonde and Harry, attempting to judge if she would actually do it.

"Fine," he conceded finally. "Do… Do you think I could talk to Harry in private?"

"Yeah, sure," she agreed softly. "Good luck, Draco. And Harry?" Confused, the boy looked at Alex. "Just listen, ok? Don't say anything until he finishes." With that she left, exiting the door and leaning against the soundproof wall for a moment, struggling once again with her emotions.

In a fit of anger she slammed her head against the stone wall, sinking slowly into a sitting position as tears warred with her control. "You two had better be happy," she whispered quietly. Her head and chest hurt from keeping her tears in, from lack of blood, from the total fear and worry she held inside. From her effort to forget about her upcoming death. She opened her eyes again weakly, weariness making her fall swiftly into sleep. "I'll make sure you have a future to be happy in."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Inside the room Draco shifted nervously before putting up his cool façade. "Take a seat," he offered, his intense eyes watching Harry carefully.

"I'll stand thanks," he replied coolly.

"Why are you here?" Draco asked suddenly. He had been amused by Harry's confusion, and even the sullen anger he was showing now, bet he didn't understand the other teenager's irritation.

"Alex dragged me here," he responded stiffly.

There was a silence as Draco rose. "Was that the only reason?" he asked, stepping close to the slightly smaller boy.

"I wanted to make sure you wouldn't hurt her."

"Why would I hurt her?" the silver-haired boy inquired, now thoroughly confused. "She's the only good friend I've got."

"All guys ever think about is sex."

Draco blinked. "Yeah, so…"

"So if you're shagging Alex you're gonna have to remember that girls don't."

As what he said sunk in Draco burst out laughing. "Me? Shag *ALEX*?!" Muttering under his breath he added, "Well *THERE'S* an unappealing idea if I ever heard one…" Louder he continued, "You know, Potter, if I didn't know better I'd say you were jealous!"

In an instant Harry was tossed back to the first day he had found out about the two blondes. Jealousy had boiled in his veins, and he unwillingly thought of the confusing weeks afterward when he wasn't sure of who it was directed toward.

"I'm not jealous," he denied through gritted teeth.

"Yes you are," Draco breathed, moving closer so his breath fell across the other boy's ear. "But who are you jealous of? Me… or Alex?"

Harry's breathing quickened as the other boy wrapped his arms around his waist and drew the raven-haired boy closer. "I'll never be jealous of you!" he exclaimed breathlessly as the silver-eyed boy rested his forehead against Harry's.

"Then that would mean you were jealous of Alex," he murmured slightly. Quickly, before the other could protest, Draco leaned in and kissed him.

Emotions swirled through the raven-haired boy, swelling and clambering for his attention. He through himself into the kiss, pressing his mouth harder to the other boy's and opening his mouth willingly when Draco's tongue ran over his lips.

The kiss continued for what seemed like hours and milliseconds and once. The couple broke apart for air before diving back together for another mind-blowing kiss. More than an hour passed before the couple changed their activity to talking, and several hours after that until they left the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alex carefully left her place in the hall, dropping by the Common room to grab her books and state that she and Harry would be studying with Professor Karr before leaving for the teacher's office. When she reached the large wooden door she knocked softly.

Malachi glanced up from the papers he was grading. "Come in."

"I'm here," Alex murmured as she took her seat across from the vampire.

"You want to start our session?" The blonde nodded as she cracked open her Divination textbook first.

Three hours later Alex closed her last book and sighed with relief. "That was a *LOT* of homework!"

"Mm," Malachi agreed wordlessly. He watched as the girl yawned and stretched cramped muscles. "Alex, you don't have to do this, you know. I'd help you study regardless."

"Nani?" _What?_ "Malachi, I said I'd do it. I have no problem with it, and its not hurting me." At her side her fingers waved slightly, tightening the power of her control. She stepped forward, exposing her neck and keeping herself from flinching as his fangs buried themselves in her neck and she released her slight control. As he drank Alex's head got lighter and she was forced to grab his shoulder to keep her knees from collapsing. No more than five minutes later she was back in her chair, resting and regaining her normal breathing rate.

"I'm – " Malachi began, his features flushed pink by the new blood.

"Don't be," Alex interrupted. She sat up, quickly healing the puncture marks on her neck as she said, "I think I've almost finished the project I told you I was working on – you know, the bottle that will be able to recreate blood perfectly if you fill it once. Hermione's been unwittingly helping me with the equations and stuff, and I've got the vial. Now I just have to enchant it, and see which ones work. It should be done before Halloween, if I can work on it!" She forced the last sentence to be cheerful, but it was difficult being the only one who knew that she was going to die by that time.

"Devil's night," she murmured softly to herself.

"Some do call it that," Malachi answered her just as quietly.

"It's just… you know, with Voldemort coming…"

"It fits?"

"Hai," she agreed softly. She started to say something else, then sat up quickly and froze. "Someone's coming," she warned quickly.

Just then a knock was heard on the door. "Come in," Malachi called, slightly wary.

Harry and Draco leaned in, then stepped forward when they saw Alex. "Um, we're just here to see Alex, sir."

"Ah," Malachi said. "I have one thing to say to her before she leaves, but if you're done with the work, Alex, then I don't see why you can't go."

"Okay…" Harry scratched his head. "We'll be outside, 'k?"

"Right," Alex murmured in reply. Malachi focused on her as the two boys left the room.

"Draco and Harry are together?" The blonde nodded, not questioning how he knew the information. "How are you taking that?"

"Fine. Why?"

"I just got the impression you had a crush on Harry, that's all."

Alex laughed slightly as she stood and turned to leave. "Yeah. So?"

"Alex, you're an intelligent young woman – "

"There's three things against me. Can you think of any more?" the girl asked, slightly bitterly. When she saw the teacher was about to speak again, she said, "Don't worry, I know being intelligent isn't a downside. I just don't want to talk about it, okay?" Malachi frowned, but nodded, dismissing the fifteen-year-old.

As she rejoined her friends, Harry briefly explained, "I went back to the dorm looking for you, and Ron said that you and I had been studying with Professor Karr."

"I figured it would give me the extra time to think up an excuse if you didn't come back tonight," Alex said, pointedly looking at Draco. Harry flushed a brilliant red as she continued, "I had a session planned for tonight anyway, so I couldn't be late." She was quiet for a while before asking, "So other than stuff I don't want to hear about, what stuff have you guys been doing?"

"We organized a game of strip poker!" Draco offered. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," Harry confirmed. "Ron, Fred, George, Dean, and Seamus are going to be there, along with Hermione and Lavender."

"Hermione?!"

Harry nodded. "But see, Alex, we sort of have a problem…"

The blonde narrowed her eyes. "And what might that be?"

"Because Ron's straight and Fred and Dean are bi, we promised there would be at least three girls…" Draco explained.

"And you only have two."

"Not exactly," Harry murmured. Even Draco looked slightly nervous to Alex's trained eye, knowing that she wouldn't like what she would hear.

Quickly, the silver-haired boy mumbled, "Wekindasortatoldthemyou'dplay."

Alex stopped as she attempted to translate the nearly incomprehensible words. "You did *WHAT*?!?!?!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

*Frown* I don't think I did Draco well. *Sigh* He's a really complex character, and I don't think I showed that well.

I'm going to say this: I can only tell those who review when I update my sequel… *Hint, hint!* I accept any reviews (even flames, as long as you explain what you don't like/hate) and I appreciate ALL of them. To think, some people actually take time out of their day to tell me what they think about my story… *Wipes away a tear of happiness.* Ja!


	6. Assassins

Yea! We've introduced the sub-plots! Only no one will be able to find them, because they're subtle. *Large sigh* If you have any guesses, PLEASE tell us! We're dying for reviews here! J 

Kousei

By princessofplanets and Angel

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com and taura12@hotmail.com

Part: 6 / ?

Alex's flush deepened as a familiar face appeared from under the barrier as another familiar, younger, voice commented embarrassedly, "Yoji-kun, is that ALL you think about?"

"Of course not!" the older man shot back irritably. "I think about cars and clothes too!"

Yoji stood with a flourish to greet the new customers and proclaimed 'hot woman'. Just as he was about to say something, a low voice from the back room yelled for him to come and help. Groaning about his bad luck, the man rushed into the back room, leaving an exasperated Alex. "Do NONE of my friends have any manners?!"

"Seika-san!" Omi, a seventeen year old with boyish looks and a cheerful disposition said in happy surprise. "What are you doing in London?"

Alex smiled, though it was a little forced. "Work, as usual. And you?"

"We're opening a branch here in London," nineteen-year-old Ken explained as he walked by with a cactus precariously balanced in his arms.

__

So in other words someone hired them to kill someone, the woman translated with a silent sigh. Her friends didn't even know that she knew they were assassins; one of her main jobs in Tokyo along with investigating murder cases was to cover up the murders of Weiss at the orders of their boss, Persia. 

From the back a huge crash was heard followed by a deep voice yelling, "YOU IDIOT! THE SOIL GOES INTO THE _POTS_, NOT ONTO THE _FLOOR_!!!!"

"WELL, IF YOU HADN'T BUMPED _INTO_ ME, I WOULDN'T HAVE DROPPED IT!" The two voices continued to scream insults at each other, as Alex sighed.

__

Ah, young love. 

Ken sweatdropped. "Ignore them. They always fight. Would you like to buy something, or did you just to stop by to visit?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "If you _are_, don't tell Aya. He hasn't been a good mood lately."

"When is he EVER in a good mood?" asked Touya, dryly.

"Well, he's happy when…or when…or…good point." 

"You know, I bet the poor guy's in a bad mood because he's never received flowers. We should get him some." Alex said cheerfully. _I have to talk to Yoji-san about that._

Both Ken and Omi shook their heads emphatically. "He'd kill us if we took our own merchandise for him." 

"I could pay for it."

"It wouldn't make a difference," Omi said. Just then, the door jingled. A bouncy blonde bounced in. 

"HIIIIII! Areyouthenewhotflowerguys? OOOOH! Threehotguys! Oh wait…you're the guy who was screwing the other guy on the couch. You're out. But YOU TWO!!!" She latched onto Ken's arm, which was holding the cactus. It wobbled, almost hitting Omi, who dived out of the way. Ken, meanwhile, was losing circulation in his arm. 

"Um…someone? Anyone? Help? I can't feel my arm anymore!" 

"IF YOU'RE NOT BUYING ANYTHING, GET OUT!" snapped a low, authoritative voice from the backroom. A tall, red-haired man stalked out of the backroom, followed closely by Yoji, who was wearing a contented smirk. 

"OOOOOH! Two more hot guys!"

Alex decided to intervene before either Ken or Serena were killed. "Actually, that guy whose arm you're hanging off of is dating the kid who almost got hit by the cactus."

Aya and Yoji gaped. Finally, Aya found his voice. "They're WHAT? Omi, you're too young to date! And, Ken, he's too young for you! Why don't you go date that girl in Australia?"

"You know, Aya-kun, there's only a two year difference between them, Mr. I'm-screwing-someone-eight-years-older-than-me-whose-name-will-remain-anonymous-*cough* YOJI-SAN *cough*!" the blonde smirked as Aya's face started to clash with his hair. "Also, Omi-kun's seventeen, no matter how young he may look."

"HEY!" Omi protested. Then he paused to digest the information he had learned. "Aya-kun? You're… dating… Yoji-kun?"

Aya scowled at the smirking blonde. "Shut. Up."

"You know, you're going to be just as protective over Aya-chan as Aya-san is over Omi-san," Touya pointed out darkly.

"No I won't!" the girl replied cheerfully. "You'll be doing that for me! If you're not flirting with him you'll be beating him up, I bet you anything!"

"I WOULD NOT BE FLIRTING WITH HIM!" Touya snapped.

"Who the hell is 'Aya-chan'?" Aya asked in a disinterested tone.

"I'D BE TOO BUSY BEATING UP SAKURA-CHAN'S BOYFRIENDS TO BE MESSING WITH YOUR DAUGHTER'S!"

"NEWS FLASH!" Alex yelled back. "SAKURA-CHAN ALREADY _HAS_ A BOYFRIEND! THEY'RE A _VERY _CUTE COUPLE, BY THE WAY!" She inhaled deeply, feeling the strain on her vocal cords already. "They've been going out for the past three years, Toya!" Seeing the shocked look on his face, she added in an even softer tone, "She didn't want to tell you because she was terrified you would kill him." She smiled gently, even though her eyes were filled with compassion for her friend. "Don't worry, though, Li-san's a nice guy from what I hear. And for a thirteen-year-old boy he hasn't been pulling moves on her, either." Alex paused, then thought for a moment. She muttered beneath her breath, praying that Touya wouldn't hear, "At least not anything she doesn't WANT…"

"You have a DAUGHTER?!?!" Ken cried out in shock, only just having found his voice.

"Why didn't you ever tell us? I thought we were friends!" Omi said softly. 

"Omi-kun…. It's not that, really…" the blonde said desperately as the younger boy began to pout.

"How come we've never met her? Or your husband?" Ken asked, after he had regained his composure.

"It…In Japan, it's not like I'm a lesbian or something. Couples are accepted, but a single mother isn't. I didn't want you to think less of me." She paused. "Wow. I didn't think I was that dependant on people."

"You're divorced?" Aya inquired in a dead voice.

"No. It doesn't matter how I got pregnant, just the fact that I did."

"Of course you're dependant, baka. Why else would you call for me and Yuki every five minutes when we have some private time."

"I… I don't mean to take advantage of you two!" she said quickly, worry seeping into her expression.

"It's okay, Seika, we knew that when we moved in with you!" he said in a light tone. "Besides, other than being EXTREMELY frustrated at times," he shot a glare at his friend, "there's nothing really to complain about."

"Thank you, Toya!" Alex said, truly touched by his words but disturbed that she realized she had been using him.

"No problem. Come on, get some flowers. It's on me." He glanced at a price tag of a nearby rose bush and blanched. "But don't tell Yuki that I bought you stuff, or he'll make me pay double for something for him."

The blonde grinned. "Thank you, Toya!" Turning to the other four men in the room and awkwardly addressing the other girl, she said, "I think I'm going to get some flowers for Aya, so could you guys help me pick some out?"

"What?! I DON'T THINK SO!" Yoji screamed in possessive anger. Alex frowned in confusion.

"I meant my DAUGHTER," she explained slowly, emphasizing each word. "I have NO intention of buying flowers for Aya-kun. That's YOUR job."

"WHAT?!" Ken exclaimed. "Why would it be Yoji's job to buy flowers for Aya?"

Everyone sighed. "Ken-kun, she said that earlier," Omi whispered to his boyfriend.

"Oh. I missed that."

Alex rolled her eyes. "ANYway…" Just then the door opened with a jingle, revealing yet ANOTHER familiar person. "Harry? What are you doing here?"

"Well…ouranniversary'stomorrowandIkindaforgottogetagiftsoIhavetofindsomethingonshortnotice." He took a deep breath. Alex blinked.

"What did he say?"

"You know, if Yuki ever forgot OUR anniversary…"

He was cut off by, "But Yuki NEVER forgets your anniversary. That's YOUR job!"

"Shut up!"

"Anyway, as I was saying, I forgot completely about it last year, and I'm NOT risking doing that again." Turning to the others, he said, "Any suggestions for what to get a temperamental boyfriend?"

Yoji grinned. "Don't worry. I can help you." Aya hit him over the head. "What?! I just meant that I know the flowers very well. That's all."

"Yoji, that's Omi." Ken wrapped his arms possessively around his boyfriend. Omi sighed as the older man continued, "YOU always stand around and flirt."

"Wha…? Of COURSE I don't! I'm ALWAYS helpful! Aya, I don't flirt with anyone else, HONEST!" Aya hit him again.

"Yeah, of course you don't flirt, which is why I'm afraid to come within ten kilometers of this place," Touya muttered beneath his breath. Aya glared at Yoji.

"Couch. Two weeks."

"NOO!" Yoji wailed. "PLEASE, don't! I can't LIVE two weeks without sex!"

Omi covered his ears and blushed, Alex quickly matching his shade of red. "Too much information!" she moaned.

"Um…. I still need some flowers for Draco…"

Alex sighed. "Well, these guys seem to be involved in their personal lives right now, so _I'll_ help you." She dragged him over to where she saw the roses. "OMI-KUN! WE'RE GOING TO NEED YOUR FLOWER-MEANING-EXPERTISE NOW!"

"Hai!" the boy said in response. He came over after prying his boyfriend off him. "What're you looking for?"

"Well, I heard somewhere that all different roses together means 'You're everything to me' or something, so they have to be lots of colors… And long stems. Long stems are romantic, don't you think?" Without pausing to hear their opinions, she continued, "And they have to be red. Red's romantic. And maybe white! But that means innocence and purity, so maybe not white…"

Omi cut her off. "Well, red and white together mean unity…"

"That's a good idea! And maybe some other colors too, like blue and purple and pink and orange and any other colors you can think of! But they have to be romantic!" She continued to babble her opinions on the different meaning of flowers, as Omi and Harry tuned her out. 

"Sooo…what would you like to give your boyfriend?"

"Red and white roses sound good. Other than that, I don't really know. I was kind of depending on you guys to help with that."

"Ok. Red and white. How about…pink? That means perfect happiness. And you could also do light pink, for admiration, but since you're already in a relationship that might not be the best. Yellow means joy and happiness, white is heavenly too, and you could put in an interesting color…maybe peach? Or orange? They both mean desire. Anything sound good?"

"…All of them," Harry said after a moment's pause. Hopefully, Draco would like them. There was that one time when he'd gotten him the Easy-Bake Oven. That hadn't gone over too well.

"Ok. How about two of each color, and then the red and white in the middle? Short-stemmed or long-stemmed roses? I'd suggest long stems."

"What's the difference?"

"Long stems mean 'I will remember you always' and short stems mean 'Sweetheart' or 'Girlhood'."

"Long stems."

"Ok! That will be eighteen pounds," Omi informed him as he went to the cash register and began to arrange the flowers into a bouquet. Harry paid him and took the flowers, then turned and addressed Serena, who'd been drooling over the six hot guys who were all out of her reach. 

"Excuse me, miss. Can I talk to you? It's about the …stick…that you bought a few days ago." 

Serena's eyes lit up. "You want to talk to ME? Alone? In a dark closet? SURE!" Harry blinked, then shrugged and pulled the girl out of the shop, where Hermione and Ron were waiting. The three of them surrounded her and walked away.

"Why won't anyone help ME?! _I_ was here first!" Alex began to pretend to cry. "It's not fair!" Snapping back into a serious mode, she said, "I do believe that I'm hyper. THAT hasn't happened for a long time! Toya, WHAT did you put in my coffee?"

Touya sighed. "You didn't HAVE coffee." _WHY do I have to live with her?_ he asked himself irritably. _And WHY do I have to be the nice guy every once in a while?! I _COULD_ be with Yuki right now…_

He continued to mentally grumble to himself as Alex annoyed the four men in the shop. Serena had mysteriously disappeared, so there was no need for his 'translating' skills now… _Unless Seika starts talking again,_ he thought as he watched her bounce around the shop. "You know, I think someone DID put something in whatever it was she didn't drink," he grumbled to Aya.

__

I should be out killing Takatori** right now, the redhead thought to himself. Finally Omi had found what Alex was looking for and she and Touya left. Yoji glanced at his watch.

"You know, Seika-chan made us late meeting that Fudge guy," he informed everyone carelessly.

"WHAT?!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The four men strolled into Fudge's office warily, carefully taking notes on their surroundings. "Ah, you're here!" the plump minister declared as he moved out from behind his desk. "You're Weiss, are you not?"

Aya nodded. "You have a job for us, minister?"

"Yes, yes," Fudge replied. "A very annoying girl, she could ruin my plans entirely."

Yoji perked up. "A girl?"

"Yes, yes, a girl. VERY annoying girl."

"May we see a picture of the target?" Aya asked, already frustrated with the short man.

"Oh, a picture, a picture…" Fudge dug through some obviously untouched paperwork on his desk. "Ah, yes, here's one."

He offered the small picture to Aya, whose face remained expressionless as saw the woman. Ken, Omi, and Yoji crowded to get a peek over his shoulders. "I'm out," the redhead stated simply.

"It's SEIKA-CHAN?!" Ken exploded in shock.

"How the hell can she be a danger to you? She's not even in politics," Yoji said in a deceptively lazy tone.

"We can't take this job, we KNOW her!" Omi protested.

"Sorry, Minister, it seems you will have to find other assassins," Aya stated simply as he, followed by the other members of Weiss, turned and left.

"Wait! No! You can't…!" the Minister of Magic sweatdropped as the four left. "But… I need you to kill her!" Fudge sighed as he pushed a button on his intercom. "Bring in the next assassin, please."

Seishirou stepped in a door on the other side of the room. "You're the Sakurazukamori, are you not, Mr. Seishirou?" The man said politely.

Seishirou nodded, though he inwardly sighed in frustration at the Minister's mistake. _Is it really that hard to figure out that the family name comes first? _he wondered. "I've been told that you need a person who is a danger to Japan eliminated?" he asked in smooth English.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. She's a danger to this whole planet." He extended the photo to the younger man as Fudge said, "I need you to eliminate this girl."

Seishirou glanced at the glossy paper and shook his head. "Sorry, I can't. Much as I would love to do some killing on my vacation, I'm too busy trying to get Subaru-kun to sleep with me." Without another word and despite protests from the Minister of Magic, Seishirou left. 

Now very frustrated, Cornelius Fudge pounded on the intercom. "Send in the other group of assassins NOW!" he demanded.

Out of a third door four more people entered the room, a tall, raven-haired and serious looking American followed by a man with wild red hair. The next to enter the room was a white haired man with a patch over his eye and several thin scars over his exposed skin. Finally, a slim boy almost insignificant in comparison to the other three, followed, carrying a strange, (at least to Fudge's eyes), thin, box-like contraption, which he was poking furiously. The first to enter, who introduced himself as 'Crawford', glanced over and hissed for the boy to stop playing his games.

__

But Crawford! Nagi complained. _It's my laptop!_ The man glared at him and the boy sighed, closing the machine and tucking it under his arm.

__

You know, you're asking for trouble if you try to take away the chibi's laptop, Bradley, the redhead, Schuldig, thought, smirking evilly.

__

Don't. Call. Me. Bradley.

Calling Crawford 'Bradley' hurts God, interjected the white-haired psycho, Farferello. 

__

All of you shut up, and let me listen to this fat guy. Crawford turned his attention back to Fudge, who had been sizing them up for the last few moments.

"Hello, Mr. Fudge…" There was a muffled bark of laughter from Schuldig, which earned him two death glares.

"Please excuse my companions. As I was saying, we were told you had a job for us?"

"Yes. I need you to kill this girl." Fudge passed over a picture of Alex. The four assassins looked at it. 

"What the hell…"

"NAGI!"

"Oh, it's not like you don't say this stuff, Crawford! Like I said, what the HELL did she do to you? She doesn't look old enough to have done anything, except go to school, and date a few people."

"She has killed some very powerful people at the age of fifteen, and is trying to undermine my power. I want her dead!"

"Riiiight. So, what are we getting paid for this job?" Schuldig asked.

"585 pounds." Three heads turned toward Nagi, who sighed with impatience.

"That's about 109, 305 yen." 

Schuldig shrugged. "Ok. What does this bitch do for a living?"

"She's a police officer…"

"Sorry, for that price, we're not taking on any police officer. We'd do a little kid for that amount of money. We took pity on you because you're just a poor Brit, but this is insane," the rest of Schwarz looked at Farfie in astonishment, first for sounding SANE, and second for having the temerity to call someone ELSE insane.

"Ok, how about 2,060 pounds?" Fudge winced at the amount.

"That's 384,666 yen." 

Schuldig laughed. "Well, that's perfect for us."

"But if we divide that into four, I can't get my new computer games…"

"I thought you said you were going to use your share to get research equipment." Crawford said, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Weeeell… the computer games…show how…to kill people? SCHULDIG SAID I COULD GET IT!"

"Hey, leave me out of this!" Schuldig cried out, shrinking away from Crawford's glare. 

"I'll yell at you two about this at the hotel." Turning back to Fudge, he said, "Yes, we will take this job. You'll have to send the information, such as what her name is, to our hotel room." He handed Fudge a slip of paper with the room number written on it. "If you will excuse us…" He grabbed Nagi's shoulder and dragged him out of the room, deaf to the cries of "CRAWFORD! LET ME GO! STOP!" The other two followed out them. 

Fudge stared after the strange group for a moment, before sinking into his chair. _I hope Dumbledore never finds out what I'm doing to Alex._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Bradley, don't you think you've yelled at the chibi enough? Geez, the poor kid's almost in tears!" The aforementioned 'chibi' glared at the German, eyes flashing with anger. 

"TEARS?! I AM _NOT_ IN TEARS!"

"Hai, hai." 

Nagi groaned, then turned to the only person who hadn't turned on him. "FAAAAARFIIIIEEEEE! Make them stop being mean to me!"

"Nagi, if you want us to believe you're an adult, you better start acting like one." Crawford said coldly.

"Schuldig doesn't act like an adult!"

"I act like an adult when I'm giving him a blowjob." 

"TOO MUCH INFORMATION!" 

Schuldig shrugged. _You asked for it._

Nagi glared at them, then turned and stalked into his 'room'. 

Crawford sighed. "Thank G…heavens that I'll never have a kid."

"Oh! Bradley darling, I forgot to tell you. I took the test, and I'm pregnant. You're going to be a father!" There was a resounding crash. Schuldig looked down at the unconscious body of their leader. "I was just kidding…" 

"Men becoming pregnant hurts God." 

** Takatori is the jerk who killed Aya's parents and ran over Aya's sister (who's actually named Aya. *Sweatdrop* Guy-Aya's, as Angel calls him, real name is Ran. He took his sister's name – Coma-Aya, in Angel's words – for some reason. Who here's confused? *Princessofplanets raises her hand.*) Consequently, Aya doesn't like Takatori very much, and he basically joined Weiss (the assassin group) to kill Takatori.

Also, the other four assassins that we introduced (Angel pops in. "WHO ARE REALLY HOT!") are Weiss' rival group, Schwarz. It's made up of:

Crawford: American, 27, can see the future

Schuldig: German, 20, telepath

Farferello (Farfie): Irish, 20, psycho, doesn't feel any pain

Nagi: Japanese, 15, telekinetic

(SilentStep, there's your info on my assassins. IF you need anymore, ask me. – Angel)

If I had MY way, none of this would have been entered. *Large sigh* We'll try to post soon! Ja! 

PLEASE review and tell us what you think! We'd really appreciate it!


	7. Kidnapping Children Hurts God.

Romilly McAran: Just so you know, I (princessofplanets) am NOT the one who is possessive over anime characters. *Shoots glare at Angel* ANYWAY… Thank you for your review, since I couldn't e-mail you to thank you. J . And don't worry, as far as I'm concerned, you can have Weiss, Schwarz, whatever… Though you may have to battle Angel for them. *Laughs* I hope you like this chapter! *Angel jumps on Princess and kills her.* And, since neither of us have actually SEEN Schwarz in the anime, we'd really appreciate it if you'd e-mail one of us on your opinions on their personalities. (Or leave your e-mail address if you could so we could contact you.) Thank you! 

Kousei

By princessofplanets and Angel

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com and taura12@hotmail.com

Part: 7 / ?

"Rain sucks!" Alex muttered as she slogged her way to Harry and Draco's house. As she walked up to the door, she noticed a small shadow out of the corner of her eye. She glanced to the side, wondering if it was a poor homeless child stranded on the streets in the rain. _The stupid rain. It's all the rain's fault._ The shadow shrank away from her gaze, melding back into the darkness. She shrugged and turned back. _Well, there's no way I'll be able to find them now, so…. _Knocking on the door, she waited for someone to answer. Harry opened the door, looking disheveled and EXTREMELY irritated. Seeing who was outside, he brightened. 

"Draco! Alex's here!" A groan answered him, before the other man stomped out of the kitchen. 

"I was almost done cooking, too!"

"Yeah, and getting food all over ME at the same time!" 

"I SAID you should change! I HOW many times to I have to tell you…"

"Uh, guys? Could we NOT argue in front of the guests?"

"Sorry, Alex. Come in. I'm almost done. Or, I WOULD be, if a certain clod hadn't been in the way…" Draco trailed off, shooting a glare at his boyfriend. Harry hid behind Alex. "You guys can wait in the living room. I'll be there in a minute." He turned and stalked into the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Alex whispered to Harry.

"He thinks I forgot our anniversary again."

"You WHAT?!!!" 

"Shhhhhhh! I didn't, he just thinks that. Don't worry, I have it all planned. I just need to kick him out for a little while." 

"How are you going to do that?"

"Just watch." Just then, Draco's head popped out. 

"Ok, WHEN did we decide to invite Alex over tonight?"

Harry gave an innocent smile. "I invited her. I mean, she just moved back, and tonight wasn't special or anything, so…" Draco's eyebrow twitched. 

"…I'm going out. Bye, Alex." He walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him. In the silence that followed, Alex stared at Harry.

"You _were_ kidding, right?"

"Of course! Now, you just stand outside, and make sure he doesn't come back for at least an hour. And when you see him come back, you have to leave."

"So, let me get this straight. You're going to make me stand out in the _rain_, and THEN you're going to kick me out?! And you're not going to even feed me?" Alex glared at her so-called 'best friend'. "How polite." 

Harry was rummaging under the sofa, not listening to her. "Where is it? I know it's here SOMEWHERE…" 

"Harry, what are you looking for?" 

"The chocolate! And the wine! I know I put it…Oh! Here it is!" He emerged from under the couch, triumphantly holding the chocolate and wine bottle. "See? I _told_ you!"

Alex sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll play sentry." She trudged out onto the porch. "NOW what am I supposed to do? I can't even do anything productive, like reading a book!" She sighed again, staring at her feet before jerking her head back up. _What…? Did I just see something? No,_ she decided,_ I'm probably just hungry. He DID invite me for dinner._ "HAAARRYYYYYYY! Can I have some food, pleeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeee?" A half-eaten sandwich dropped out of the upstairs window. "…Thanks…I guess." She bit down, and choked. "HARRY! I don't know WHAT you think I ate in Japan, but I can assure you it wasn't rocks and rotten French cheese!" She threw the sandwich back up toward the window, grinning as it hit Harry in the head. Turning back, she gave a reassuring smile to all the neighbors, and settled down to watch for Draco.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

__

I'm NOT going to give him his present first this time, Draco decided. _It's too embarrassing when he doesn't have anything for me. He hasn't mentioned anything ALL DAY, and now he invited her over for DINNER?! I can't BELIEVE he forgot! AGAIN! Well, this time he's going to make the first move, and if he doesn't give me anything he's not going to get anything!_

He left the theater, grumbling to himself as he walked. "Lousy movie. The Elf-guy was hot, but he isn't really my type. I can't BELIEVE Harry FORGOT!!" He continued to rant to himself, ignoring the strange looks he was receiving from the people around him. When he reached his street he was surprised to find Alex out on the porch.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked with a sigh.

"I was just leaving," she explained smoothly. "Tell him I said bye. Sorry we couldn't spend more time together. I'll talk to you later, ok?" She paused for a moment. "Do you have an e-mail address?"

"No."

Alex sighed again. "Ok, fine. Normally I'd stay and tell you the benefits of having an e-mail address, but I'm afraid if I do, Harry, who's… sleeping… will kill me. So I'll convince you later. Ja!" She left the porch and quickly walked down the street, not noticing the two shadows that had briefly separated themselves from the side of a wall.

"He's SLEEPING?! I left for THREE HOURS, and he's SLEEPING?! That does it. He's not getting anything for a month!" He walked up the stairs, at each step planning another elaborate form of revenge to use of his lover. Arriving at his bedroom door, he jerked it open and stopped. Harry looked over his shoulder, eyes widening. 

"You weren't supposed to be back yet! I haven't finished lighting the candles!" He walked over and pushed Draco out of the room, closing the door in the other man's face. 

"…HARRY! What the HELL are you doing in my room? Haven't you figured out that I'm a bit MAD at you? You're not getting any sex tonight, so leave!" 

"Oh, are you mad because you think I forgot our anniversary? It was exactly three years ago… now. Besides, how could I forget the first time we had sex? Ok, you can come in."

"Thanks for letting me go into my own room…"

"Well, it's my room toooooooo!" Draco rolled his eyes, and walked into the room, stopping at the sight in front of him. 

Harry grinned at him from the middle of the bed. "Happy Anniversary!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex walked at a steady pace toward her apartment. Again she got the uncomfortable feeling she was being watched.

Crawford aimed his gun at the blonde. He fired and watched as the bullet seemed to hit an invisible wall. "It missed."

"Didn't you see that coming?" Schuldig asked.

"I've told you before: I can only see the future in flashes. I don't see everything."

"Oh. You know, Bradley, it sounds like you're very frustrated right now. Why don't we go home and take care of that?" Crawford shot a glare at him. "What? It'd be good for you! Get rid of some stress, you know?" 

"No. We have to figure out some things about the target, such as any other family or friends that she has, places she likes to go. Now, come on."

"Why can't we just have Nagi do it?"

"Because Nagi has to catch up on school work."

"You actually believed that?"

"No, but it makes him feel better."

Schuldig raised an eyebrow. "I never thought I'd see the day when YOU were nice to the kid."

"Shut up and see who else is in there."

"Hai, hai." He sent his mind toward the apartment for a moment, then looked over at his partner. "There's the target who's in the shower, two guys who are in the middle of a huge make-out session, and a kid, about five, who's sleeping."

"A kid? Hers?"

"I think so."

"That's good. Well, that's all we can do here. Let's go home."

"And get rid of some frustration?" Schuldig asked hopefully

"No."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"CRAAAAAAAWWWWFFOOOOORRRRDDDDDD!" Nagi called, as soon as the door opened. From the kitchen came the sound a blender.

"Nagi, didn't I tell you to lock Farfie up?"

"He wasn't doing anything! Besides, I kept him in the kitchen."

"Did you go INTO the kitchen to see what he did?" Schuldig asked.

"He's just blending fruits, calm down. Anyway, can I get a new computer game?"

"No."

"Yes." Schuldig grinned.

Nagi blinked, then decided not to waste his opportunity. "ARIGATO, SCHULDIG!!!" He grabbed his coat and ran out the door before Crawford could stop him.

"Was there a REASON you said yes to him?" Crawford asked calmly.

"Was there a reason you said no?"

"Yes. He has work."

"Oh, let the kid have some fun! The poor thing's been working ever since we got here." Not that this was TRUE, but it sounded good.

Crawford raised an eyebrow. "Right."

"…So, what do you say to tying up Farfie for the night, and then… relaxing in bed?"

"Depends on the type of relaxing."

"Don't worry. By the time I'm done, you'll be VERY relaxed. I promise."

"Why does that not make me feel better?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex shivered as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. _It was a good thing that I created the shield in time. Who shot that? _she wondered. _Who have I angered enough to get a death wish from?_ For a moment her mind flashed to Fudge. _With the capability, _she amended. 

Her mind came up blank.

"Damn," she murmured. Her body was suddenly and viciously shaken with coughs. She stumbled out of the bathroom and into her bedroom right next to it. The blonde attempted to muffle the coughs in her pillow, pulling back and gasping for air when they momentarily stopped. One moment her body was burning, the next she was as cold as an iceberg.

Just as suddenly as it came, the illness left. Alex focused on regulating her breathing. _It happened again,_ she thought worriedly. She pulled out a notebook from her bedside table's drawer, quickly making a note of the date and time. The woman scanned the previous information and bit her lip. _It's getting more frequent now, _she observed. _Damn it! Why now? I don't need this!_ She lay down on her bed, closing her eyes. _If Toya or Yuki find out, they'll never let me get out of the house again._ She sighed, turning over listening to the familiar sounds of Aya's breathing from the room next door. _Well, at least Aya will be with me, even if I have to stay in this stupid apartment for the rest of my life._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, why exactly do you want me to help you?" Seishirou asked indifferently.

"Our employer just 'reminded' us that he wants a painful death for this girl. I don't think a bullet is painful enough for him."

"And you think a hand through the heart is?"

"It's more creative and there's more blood. This Fudge is an idiot; the way he'd judge a painful death is by blood," Crawfordsaid.

Seishirou sighed theatrically. "Much as I would love to get rid of her, she doesn't pose a threat to Japan. In fact, the only person she IS a threat to is herself." 

Just then, "SEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIII-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!" shrieked a shrill voice. 

Seishirou sweatdropped, and turned to Crawford. "I don't know you."

A small, hyper, black-haired girl bounced up to them, dragging a boy behind her. "Sei-chan, hurry up! The plane leaves in an hour!"

The boy behind her spoke up. "Hokuto-chan, we're at the gate. We have time."

She turned to him angrily. "Subaru! I TOLD you! We have to get Sei-chan to spend more time with you so you can develop a relationship that doesn't revolve around food!" 

Crawford glanced at his fellow assassin, amused. _Turning to pedophilia, now?_

Shut up. 

"HOKUTO-CHAN!" Subaru cried out, hiding his beet-red face in his hands. "Do you HAVE to be so loud?"

"Of course! I have to get you settled down with a good husband, so that when I'm not around, he can make sure you dress well."

"Is that all you care about?" Crawford asked.

"YUP! Ne, where do you live?"

"…Japan…why?"

"That's great! Now, here's my phone number. When you get back to Japan, call me. I'll help you choose a new wardrobe." She paused. "You need it." Hokuto handed him a piece of paper that looked to have been written in some alien script.

"If I could read this, I would be more than happy to call you." _Not._

__

Don't be so rude to the poor girl. She's going to lose her brother in two months. Seishirou thought back, eyes fixed on Subaru.

__

Can we say 'pedophile'?

"Nee-chan, should you really be giving out your phone number to complete strangers?"

"Well, Sei-chan knows him, so he can't be that bad." Crawford blinked.

" 'Sei-chan'?"

"Don't…"

"Yup! After all, he's going to be my brother-in-law!"

"Isn't it illegal for two men to get married? Especially if one of them's under eighteen?"

"Don't worry about that! You have to give me your address. I can invite you to the wedding!" 

Seishirou sighed, and placed an arm around Subaru's shoulders. "Hokuto-chan, I think we should go. Your brother looks like he's getting hungry."

"I am? OH! Yes! I am getting hungry!"

Seishirou pulled the twins away from Crawford. "See you back in Tokyo. Good luck in your work."

As the trio walked away, he could hear Hokuto's high voice asking, "How do you know him, Sei-chan? Was he an old boyfriend? Are you cheating on Subaru?"

"How could you think that I would do that, Hokuto-chan? I'm wounded!" 

"I'm sorry, Sei-chan. I just had to make sure that Subaru doesn't have any competition."

"HOKUTO-CHAN!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Alex, stay in bed. You have a fever of 101.5 Fahrenheit. I think that's a lot. Stupid American thermometers. You'd think they'd switch to the metric system."

Alex blinked groggily. "Wha…?"

Touya rolled his eyes. "Stay in bed. You have a fever. Yuki and I are going to work, we left you food and orange juice in the fridge. Aya-chan's still sleeping, but you'll have to give her lunch around 12:30."

"You're leaving Aya-chan with me?! I don't know how to take care of her!"

"She's your daughter. Learn." With those words, Touya turned and walked out of the room. 

Alex stared after him, mouth moving as she tried to form words. Finally she managed, "But…but…oh fine! Be that way!"

"Kaa-san?" asked a small voice from the door. 

"Aya-chan? Come in, honey. But don't sit on the bed. Kaa-san's sick." The blonde child walked in nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Do you hate me, Kaa-san?"

Alex froze. "What? Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"You just told Tou-chan that you didn't want to take care of me." 

"No, no, no! I said that I didn't know HOW to take care of you. I want to take care of you, but I'm scared that I'll do something wrong."

"But you never learned how to take care of me, so you don't want to, right?"

"No, honey. I just never had the time."

"If you really cared, you would make the time. That's what Tou-chan said to Yu-chan."

"Did he know you were listening?"

"No, I was supposed to be sleeping. Don't tell him? Onegai?"

"…Fine. I won't tell him. But…has Toy…Tou-chan said anything else about me to Yu-chan?"

"He said that you should spend less time working and more with me. And that you should 'spress' your feelings more. What does 'spress' mean, Kaa-san?"

Alex winced. _He's probably right, too._ "It means I should share my feelings with other people."

"Like when I want candy, and I tell Yu-chan?"

"A little like that." All of a sudden, Alex leaned forward and hugged her daughter. "I'm sorry, Aya. I didn't mean to neglect you. I'll try to be a better mother. As soon as I get better, we'll go out and do something. Just the two of us, no boys, ok?" 

"Ok," Aya replied, her voice muffled by her mother's shoulder. 

Alex straightened. "Now, are you hungry? Toya said there was food in the fridge."

Aya shook her head, and, climbing onto the bed, curled up next to Alex. "I guess that means you're tired. You probably shouldn't sleep here, though. Why don't we go and sleep in the living room? I'll bring a blanket and pillow, and we can sleep there until we're hungry. Ok?"

Aya nodded and hopped off of the bed, reappearing a moment later with a blanket and pillow from her bed. Alex smiled, and grabbed a pillow and blanket from her own bed. Carrying it out to the living room, she pushed the couch out of the way, while Aya set up the blankets. Five minutes later, they were both sound asleep. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex woke up slowly. _Where am I? Oh yes. In the living room. Why? I was sleeping with Aya. Where is Aya? She's…_She sat up, looking around for her daughter. The blankets were tossed all over her, so she assumed that Aya had just gotten up to go to the bathroom. She decided to go back to sleep, but after waiting for ten minutes, she began to worry because of the silence.

"Aya? Aya, where are you?" She walked through the apartment, calling her daughter's name. "Aya! Stop playing around and come out here this instant! This isn't funny!" Entering the kitchen, she froze. A knife was embedded in the middle of the table. Walking over shakily, she pulled the knife out. A piece of paper was underneath it. In a messy scrawl it read:

__

Kidnapping children hurts God.

So we FINALLY got out another chapter! J . Sorry for the wait! I hope you liked it and please review. (I LIVE on your opinions, and I'm currently dying! ONEGAI REVIEW!!)


	8. Sibling Rivalry

Am I bad! I'm REALLY SORRY!!!! I've actually had this chapter since Sunday… *Flinches under angry glares and raised knives* But I FORGOT, REALLY I did! Anyway, it's here NOW isn't it? And there's only two more parts to go… So you might want to keep me alive until I finish! (Cause Angel can't write this without ME… *Sweatdrops as she remembers how much she wrote in this chapter.* Uh, well, OF COURSE SHE CAN'T SILLY! ^_^;; ) ANYWAY… I hope you like this chapter, REALLY!  
  
  
  
Kousei  
  
By princessofplanets and Angel  
  
Email: princessofplanets@hotmail.com or taura12@hotmail.com  
  
Part: 8 / 10  
  
  
  
  
  
I had been holding her, Alex thought brokenly. She had been sleeping right next to me... How long was she gone? Is she okay? Will...? The blonde woman choked on her last thought. Will I ever see Aya alive again?  
  
She remembered the trauma she had went through the year after her rape.  
  
A tortured fifteen-year-old's screams resounded through the small hospital room. "Pooshu!" the doctor ordered in heavily accented English.  
  
Alex bit her lip harshly and followed the order. Through her foggy mind she barely translated, "She's too small, the baby's too big. And it's already in the birth canal…."  
  
"C..."  
  
She moaned again as she pushed, feeling the baby tear her apart from the inside. The sweat-soaked blonde repeated the action, using magic to dull her mind since she had not taken drugs. Her body made the movements without her mind, even when her daughter's cries were first heard she continued to expel the placenta, falling back and gasping for air. "Ayame." She whispered to herself the name of her daughter, picturing the flower she was named after. An iris.  
  
Eye, she thought foggily, her thoughts disconnected and irrational. Eye-ah- may.  
  
"Aya," she whispered again. Aya is so much prettier, isn't it? she thought to herself. And if I go back to England people will be able to pronounce it.... If.... Even as she reached toward the nurse who was cleaning her baby, she felt her mind slip into darkness. If....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Tadaima!" Touya called as he entered the apartment. When he heard no reply he frowned, glancing at Yukito worriedly. "Seika? Aya-chan? Is anybody home?"  
  
His frown deepened when he saw the mess in the hallway. Seika was a neat freak. "SEIKA!"  
  
"Aya-chan?" Yukito called out, popping his head into tossed about rooms. He reached the kitchen first and stopped, confused at the frozen woman in the middle of the chaos. "Toya, she's in here!" he told his boyfriend. "Seika?" he asked softly, carefully approaching the blonde. "Where's Aya-chan?"  
  
Wordlessly Alex stood, handing the man the note still in her hand.  
  
"Seika, what the HELL did you think you were doing?! YOU SHOULD HAVE ANSWERED US! Where is Aya-chan?" Touya demanded as he stormed in.  
  
"She... was kidnapped..." Yukito breathed out in shock. Touya blinked.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
The shorter man passed the note to his boyfriend, watching his expression as he read the four words. Kidnapping children hurts God. "Th... That's not possible, is it?" Touya inquired almost shakily. "How could she have been kidnapped?!"  
  
"Who hates any of us enough to kidnap a five-year-old?" Yukito parried.  
  
"Fudge," Alex responded softly, speaking for the first time since the two men had come home. She raised her eyes to meet Yukito's steadily. Emotion burned in her eyes while her face remained stoic. "I know things about him that could ruin his already shady reputation."  
  
"Kuso..." Touya breathed. He suddenly snapped out of the trance-like state. "Damn it, Seika, WHY aren't you more riled up about this?!"  
  
"You think I'm not riled up about this?" she replied in a voice colder than ice. "You think I don't want to butcher Aya's kidnappers as much or more than you do?!" She bit her lip, rising from the table and moving toward the phone. "I can't get 'all riled up' as you say I should be. I am, believe me, she had been sleeping right next to me for crying out loud!" The phone groaned as her grip tightened around it. Without another word to the men behind her, she dialed a now-familiar number.  
  
"Hello?" Hermione's breathless voice asked. John's crying could be heard in the background. "Weasley residence."  
  
" 'Mione, could you please get Ron and Harry and Draco?"  
  
The married woman gaped into the phone; Alex's voice was shaking. "Uh, sure.... Are you ok?"  
  
"It's..." The blonde stopped to control her breathing. "I... I just really need you guys here, ok? I'll explain when you get here, I promise. And tell them it's an emergency, ok?"  
  
"Um..." Hermione bounced John against her hip mindlessly to quiet him. "Yeah, sure. We'll be there ASAP."  
  
"Thanks, Hermione," she whispered back, setting down the phone silently and clenching her fists to keep them from shaking.  
  
"They have a phone?" Yukito asked, weakly attempting to lighten the thick air.  
  
"Hermione grew up as a Muggle, so she insisted that they have Muggle things," Alex murmured quietly in response, taking the note from Touya and staring at it again. "Toya?" she added, almost as an afterthought.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
The blonde looked up, pain shining in her blue eyes. "You know quite well I have trouble expressing myself."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"WHAT?!?!" Draco demanded.  
  
"I seem to be getting a lot of that lately." The woman's voice was dry and completely monotonous, a combination that worried the others in the room.  
  
"But why would you think Fudge would do that?" inquired Ron. "I mean, sure, he's not the greatest guy, but..."  
  
"Logic," Alex replied in the same even tone. "He's the only person with the slightest possibility of wanting to kill me since all the Death Eaters are dead or in Azkaban."  
  
"Are you sure it couldn't be anyone in Japan?" Harry asked in a doubtful tone.  
  
The woman's gaze moved to him and he shuddered in it; it was frozen and terrifyingly dead. "No. Not only do I remain an anonymous resource, but I would also be the first to know if someone I convicted were to escape from jail. Which they don't do, because they're in the 'top-notch' prisons."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So in other words, will you or will you not come with me when I go see Fudge."  
  
"I'm there," Draco growled decisively. "I never did like him. I can't believe he tried to kill you in fifth year! And now this!"  
  
"Truthfully I don't believe he has the capability to do so," Alex admitted. "But I do know he could have hired someone. That's the only other possibility." She was sleeping right NEXT to me... she despaired in her thoughts. She kept her face carefully emotionless.  
  
"I'm in," Hermione agreed. Her grip on John tightened. "The thought of anyone kidnapping an innocent child..."  
  
"It happens all the time," Alex disagreed quietly. "It's just the first time it's been someone you know. There's a difference."  
  
"O.... Oh."  
  
A brief, almost smile flickered across the slightly younger woman's face. "Oh," she agreed.  
  
"I'm in," Harry added. The six adults in the room looked expectantly at Ron.  
  
"I... I don't want to believe we've been working for a heartless bastard who would steal kids for the past three years," Ron said. "But I'm in. If it were John..."  
  
"But it's not, therefore it's your choice." Alex stood easily. "Now let's go."  
  
As the blonde drove, her grip on the steering wheel so tight her knuckles were white, she reflected silently on her behavior. Yes, she decided, I acted well. I didn't break down, I didn't destroy anything... I'm going the speed limit.... She glanced at the speedometer, then revised, Well, ten kilometers over, but who's counting? And I haven't.... Tears welled in the blonde's eyes and the ground began to shake and rumble. Angrily she blinked them away and tightened her grip on her magic. NO! she said firmly. I will NOT lose control. I can't afford people getting hurt because of me.  
  
For the first time she realized that Aya's favorite CD, The Prince of Egypt, was playing in the background. Touya and Yukito's conversation died down and the words seemed to blare into the silence: "My son, I have nothing I can give, but this chance that you may live; I pray we'll meet again; If he will deliver us. Deliver us, hear our prayer, deliver us." Abruptly, Touya turned it off.  
  
"We WILL get her back, Seika," Yukito murmured. A determined look entered the younger woman's eyes.  
  
"Yes. NO ONE takes my daughter away from me."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Excuse me. Is Minister Fudge free?" Alex asked in an icy voice.  
  
"I'm sorry, he's meeting with some ...business associates. If you'll wait for five minutes, he should be free."  
  
"Too bad. Tell him I need to talk to him. Now."  
  
The secretary opened her mouth to object, then saw the other woman's expression. "...Of course. Go right in." She watched the other six people guard the door as the younger woman stormed past her into the office. "He's going to KILL me!!!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Alex blazed into Fudge's office, nodding to the three men who stopped talking at her entrance.  
  
"I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting, Mr. Fudge," Alex forced out from behind clenched teeth. "I need to talk to you about something."  
  
Fudge frowned at her. "Ms. Star, I am in the middle of..."  
  
"It's VERY important, Minister. I'm afraid I can't wait."  
  
"Is it all right for my assass... associates to stay?" he inquired, noting her murderous appearance.  
  
The blonde's eyes traveled to the other three men. "Fine. Where's Aya?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Aya." Alex's eyes grew harder as she noticed Fudge begin to squirm uncomfortably. "She's my daughter. She's gone, and I know you're behind it." She lied blithely, her eyes and expression remaining unchanging. "Tell me where she is."  
  
The red-haired "assass...associate" coughed. When her eyes flew to him, he shook his head innocently. "Sorry. I had something in my throat."  
  
"Ah." She turned back to Fudge, who was gesturing wildly at the tall, black- haired man next to him. "Did I miss something, Fudge dear?"  
  
"NO! Ah, of course not, Ms. Star. I was just telling Crawford here that...that I wanted some pumpkin juice!" The three associates stared at him. "Ha. Ha. Well, I'm very sorry about your daughter, but I must be going."  
  
Anger coursed through Alex's veins and power roared in her mind. Fudge gasped in fear as the woman began to glow. Realizing a moment too late what was happening, she once again tightened her grip on her magic. Is... Is that even possible? Schuldig wondered to Crawford, who remained silent, carefully examining the woman.  
  
Fudge got up and stumbled toward the door, when the windows shattered. With it Alex could release a breath, the energy levels in her system lowered slightly. "Don't. Even. THINK. About. It."  
  
Fudge leaned against the wall, shaking. "Wh... What do you want?!"  
  
"We've already been through this, Fudgy, I want my daughter." Her eyes grew colder and flashed with magic. "I've been good so far; I've kept control. Now it's your turn. Give me my daughter."  
  
She's almost as good as the chibi, Schuldig commented to Crawford.  
  
Interesting.  
  
I didn't feel her use any psychic power, though, the younger man mused.  
  
Crawford frowned. Is that possible? he wondered.  
  
I suppose, if she's a psychic. Not if she's a telekinetic, I don't think.  
  
This could complicate things. Do you know if she used any power to stop the bullet?  
  
I didn't sense anything, and I could be wrong… Schuldig's thoughts, however, were doubtful.  
  
"Make no mistake, Fudge," Alex warned quietly, her voice shaking with suppressed anger. "I WILL get my daughter back." As she clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white, she reflected silently on her behavior. Yes, she decided, I acted well. I didn't break down; I didn't destroy things or kill people. She left the room angrily, talking in strained tones to the six adults in the hallway, two of which were holding back secretaries and security men.  
  
She came prepared for a fight, the American commented.  
  
Schuldig sighed in the other man's head. I suppose I should tell the chibi to start shielding the kid, he replied.  
  
Crawford glared at Farfello as the Irishman licked his exposed knife, causing Fudge to flinch. "He... Is he completely sane?" the man inquired hastily.  
  
"Sane? FARFIE?!" Schuldig repeated incredulously, finished with his warning. "Hell, no!"  
  
Fudge blinked in surprise. "You mean, he's not...?"  
  
The white-haired, scarred man threw one of his knives, embedding it into the wall right next to the Minister's head, grinning sinisterly at the look of complete fear on the old man's face. "Yeah, he's insane," the German clarified. Farfie moved over toward the Minister, leaning in close and pulling the blade from the door, once again grinning. Fudge pressed himself up against the wall in fear, breathing a sigh of relief when he backed away, sinking into a nearby chair.  
  
"Heh... heh...." It took several moments before the man regained his composure. "S... So you kidnapped her daughter yesterday?" he confirmed weakly.  
  
Crawford nodded, while Schuldig stared at him. "No, we didn't. She just came in here yelling that you stole her daughter, even though the kid's sitting safely at home, probably stuffing her face full of candy."  
  
Fudge blinked at him. "She is? Then why did she come in here and yell at me?"  
  
All three men stared at him. Tell me he's kidding, Schuldig pleaded disgustedly to Crawford.  
  
Afraid not. I say we get out of here, what do you say Farfie?  
  
No. Idiots hurt God.  
  
Schuldig sweatdropped. "Sorry, Mr. Fudge, we have to be going. Can't leave the kid alone for too long, you know." Grabbing Farfie's arm, he dragged him out of the room, followed by Crawford. Fudge watched them go, then turned back to figuring new ways to hurt his nemesis.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"No! Shoot him! SHOOT HIM!"  
  
"Aya-chan, I can't do anything if you're hanging off of my arms." Nagi gently peeled the child off him. She pouted.  
  
"But, Naaagiiii-niiii-chaaaannnnnn..."  
  
"Aya-chan, I really don't think you should be playing Mortal Kombat. You're a little too young. How about we go out? We can get you a toy or something."  
  
Aya's face brightened. "Really? Can we?" Nagi nodded. "YEEEAA! Let's go!" She grabbed Nagi's arm, and pulled him toward the door. "Yu-chan always takes me out shopping for toys, but Tou-chan doesn't. He gets me ice cream, or candy. And then, when Yu-chan's not around, he gets me toys AND candy. Tou-chan's really nice. But don't worry, Nagi-nii-chan. You're really nice too." She looked up at Nagi's face, worried that she had hurt his feelings.  
  
He smiled at her. "Thank you, Aya-chan. Which is 'Tou-chan'? The guy with brown hair, or the guy with blackish hair?"  
  
"Tou-chan has brown hair, and he doesn't smile that much. Unless Yu-chan is there. Or me. He smiles at me. Cause I'm 'pecial. He said so." Aya smiled proudly.  
  
Nagi blinked. Weren't those two guys the ones that were making out, according to Schuldig? Weird. "So, 'Tou-chan' is your daddy?"  
  
"No. What made you think that?"  
  
"Uh... You... called him 'Tou-chan'?"  
  
"He's Kinomoto Touya-chan!" Aya explained with a grin. "I don't know who my Otou-san is," the girl admitted. "Kaa-san said she was 'aped'." She thought for a moment. "I forgot what 'aped' means. What's it mean, Nagi-nii-chan?"  
  
Nagi blinked, tightening his grip on her hand. The target was raped? Poor kid… I wonder how Aya feels, since she'll probably never know her dad… "Um... Oh look, here's the toy store!"  
  
Aya looked around and saw it, racing ahead and skipping to the door. "Nagi- niiii-chaaaaaaaaan! THE DOOR'S TOO HEAVY!"  
  
"Aya-chan, that's a fake door," the Japanese boy said gently. "The REAL door's over here."  
  
"Oh!" She skipped over to that door and patiently looked up at it, glancing back at Nagi and waiting for him to open it. Rolling his eyes, he pulled it open, gesturing her to enter before him. "Yea! Toys, toys, toys, toys, toys, toys, toys, toys, toys, toys, toys..." Her voice trailed off as she went further into the store. Suddenly, she stopped. In front of her was a huge bunny, taller than Nagi. An evil grin appeared on her face. "NAAAAAAGIIIIII-NIIIIIIII-CHAAAAAANNNNNNNN!" When he came over, she turned melting eyes on him. "Usagi? Onegai?" Nagi looked at her, up at the rabbit, and back to her.  
  
"You're kidding. Aya-chan, I wouldn't be able to bring that back!" Her eyes became even wobblier. Nagi winced. Now I know what Schuldig feels like when I do this. Well, really, the only deciding factor is if Crawford will kill me. But even Crawford wouldn't be able to say no to her. Therefore, it is NOT wrong to use his money to buy it.  
  
A familiar voice appeared in his head. You'd better hope Bradley never finds out about that, he warned.  
  
Shut up and leave me alone, he muttered back. He awkwardly lifted the bunny off the floor and carried it over to the cash register. "This is all, right, Aya-chan?"  
  
"Well, I was also hoping for a game..." She turned pouty eyes on Nagi again and he sighed.  
  
"Fine, fine," he muttered again. "Go get it." The young cashier smiled sympathetically at his exasperated expression.  
  
"Your little sister has an expensive taste in toys," the girl commented with a grin. Nagi nodded with a slight groan.  
  
"You're telling me," the Japanese boy replied.  
  
"But you're a sweet older brother to buy it for her," she continued, scanning the bunny's price tag with her scanner. Immediately Nagi became wary.  
  
Not another clingy girl! he thought desperately. Inside his head Schuldig laughed, and he sent another curt response back. He forced a smile, which brightened when Aya came back carrying Clue. "Aya-chan, you're back! Put the game on the counter so we can pay for it and leave."  
  
"Do you like Clue, Nagi-nii-chan?" Aya inquired. "It's Tou-chan, Yu-chan, and me's favorite game. It's so cool to find out who killed people." Nagi sweatdropped. "Don't you think so, Nagi-nii-chan?"  
  
"Ano… Yeah, Aya-chan, of course." Nagi sweatdropped. Eh… She's taking after her mother. "Uh, Aya-chan, we really should be going." He looked up at the large bunny with a sigh, wrapping his arms around it and hoisting it up.  
  
"Are you sure you don't want that delivered?" the girl behind the cash register repeated.  
  
Again Nagi looked up at the large stuffed animal's face. "No, thank you," he said again with a sigh, knowing Crawford would kill him. He managed to sling the bag with the board game over his arm as he waddled awkwardly out of the store, mumbling to himself, "Even WITHOUT delivering Crawford'll kill me…"  
  
"Thank you for the usagi, Nagi-nii-chan," Aya chirped happily.  
  
You have Crawford to thank for it, the boy thought to himself with another silent groan. "You're welcome, Aya-chan."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"NAAGGGIIII-NIIIIIIIII-CHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!" Aya yelled in frustration, gripping the boy's arm tighter as she stared at the screen. "IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO LET ME PLAY MORTAL KOMBAT THEN SHOOT THE STUPID GUY!!!!" The Japanese boy returned his concerned gaze to the crazed five- year-old.  
  
"I REALLY don't think you should be playing this," he muttered.  
  
The door slammed, and Schuldig announced loudly, "WE'RE HOOOME!"  
  
Aya ran into the hallway that led to the door. "Farf-nii-chan!" she cried, her eyes growing large with happiness. "Schu-nii-chan!" Her eyes grew wider. "CAWFFORD!" Her eyes nearly burst with excitement, and she raced forward to trap the raven-haired American's legs in her strong grip.  
  
"Cawfford, Cawfford, Cawfford, Cawfford, Cawfford, Cawfford, Cawfford!" she chanted happily. Schuldig smirked.  
  
"We REALLY should have kids, Bradley," the German said. Crawford shot him a glare, peeling the girl off his legs, which she allowed, but refused to let go of his hand.  
  
"Cawfford, Nagi-nii-chan said that I should thank you for my usagi," the girl informed him. She raised her head and grinned at him. "Arigato gozaimasu!"  
  
WHAT THE HELL?! WHEN DID I TELL HER TO THANK CRAWFORD?! Nagi panicked. Shit, I'm going to be in trouble now. Didn't I just think that?!  
  
The kid's mother is psychic at the least; I wouldn't be surprised if her daughter inherited it, Schuldig informed him.  
  
"What?" Crawford inquired, oblivious to the thought conversation going on. Damned future flashes never tell me anything important, he thought to himself.  
  
Schuldig smirked to himself. Then Crawford received one of his rare psychic flashes.  
  
A tall blue bunny, almost his height, stood in the middle of the room that he recognized to be his bedroom.  
  
"Nagi…" he said in a warning tone. The young Japanese boy gulped.  
  
"Well, you see, Crawford… The funny thing is… Heh, heh…" The American turned and opened the door to his bedroom, where the blue bunny with a white bow stood.  
  
"WHY is this thing in my room?"  
  
"Uh… Because it's the kid's, and I spent all day with her and you have to watch her tonight because you won't let me stay up past midnight?" Nagi asked hopefully.  
  
Not that it makes a difference, Schuldig commented.  
  
SHHHHHH! I don't think he's figured that out yet!  
  
"Cawfford! Will you play Mortal Kombat with me? Onegai?"  
  
"…Nagi. What have you been letting her play?"  
  
"I didn't! HONEST! I thought she was sleeping and all of a sudden she was hanging off of my arms telling me to kill the guy! I had no control over it!"  
  
"Really. Well then, you're freed of all responsibilities towards Aya-chan starting tomorrow."  
  
"CRAWFORD!! You CAN'T do that! That's not FAIR! You let Farfie take care of her!"  
  
"Farfie doesn't let her play Mortal Kombat."  
  
"No, Farfie lets her play with his knives!"  
  
"Me? Let Aya-chan play with knives?" Farfie assumed an innocent look, which he didn't achieve. "But that would hurt God…"  
  
"Nice try, Farfie," Schuldig said, rolling his eyes. "Bradley, I'll take care of her."  
  
"Don't call me Bradley."  
  
Should I call you Master?  
  
"Besides, you taking care of the kid would be even worse; you'd probably take her to a strip club or something," he continued, ignoring Schuldig's comment.  
  
"Schu-nii-chan is taking care of me again today? Can we go see Pretty… pretty… 'Pretty Woman' again?" she asked, in a childish tone that slurred "woman" to "women".  
  
Crawford started. "WHAT?!?! SCHULDIG! WHAT THE HE…CK DID YOU TAKE THE KID TO?!?!?!"  
  
"It was a movie! Honest!"  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
"IT WAS AN AMERICAN MOVIE! WITH THAT ONE LADY!" He paused. "AND SHE WAS IN THAT OTHER MOVIE! WITH THAT ONE GUY! WITH THAT ONE NAME! WHO DID THAT ONE THING!"  
  
"Very specific today, aren't we?"  
  
"Shut up. YOU know what I'm talking about!" Schuldig shot back at Nagi. "Besides, Bradley, it was only an 15-or-older movie! It's not like it was a porn movie!"  
  
"YOU TOOK NAGI AND AYA-CHAN TO AN R-RATED MOVIE?!?!?! HOW COULD YOU?! NAGI CAN'T HANDLE THIS STUFF!"  
  
Nagi exploded. "WHAT?! I'M FIFTEEN!!! I CAN SEE THE FRIGGING MOVIE!!"  
  
"Nagi, language," Farfie said calmly, happily licking his knives. Aya's attention turned to the only (relatively) sane person in the room.  
  
"Ne, Farf-nii-chan? Can I see your knife collections again? They were really purty."  
  
Farfarello grinned. "Sure. How many have you seen?"  
  
"Five." Farfie stood up and, offering the girl a hand, walked off to his room. The other three stared after the pair.  
  
"What just happened?" Nagi finally asked. Crawford and Schuldig didn't move, still in shock from seeing their insane teammate say three entire sentences without a single mention of hurting God.  
  
"Maybe that new medicine really works." Schuldig managed softly after a few moments, looking over at Crawford. Glancing over when there was no reply, he rolled his eyes. "Maybe we should think about getting YOU some medicine." Still no reply. Schuldig grinned evilly. "Maybe we should consider taking all of your suits and letting Nagi and Aya-chan finger- paint on them."  
  
"You wouldn't dare," Crawford said, finally breaking out of his stunned silence. "Anyway, I need to have those suits for the now-daily visits to Mr. Fudge."  
  
"A.K.A. the old, stupid fat guy," Schuldig commented dryly.  
  
"What happened to get YOU so mad at him? I thought you said he was interesting," Nagi asked.  
  
"Yeah, up until the point where he needed to ASK if Farfie was insane. And when he asked Brad to get him a cup of pumpkin juice. What the hell is pumpkin juice, anyway? And THEN he actually asked me if I was gay! Just because I have long hair! What kind of stupid question is that?!"  
  
"…And what did YOU say to that?"  
  
"I asked him if there was a personal reason he wanted to know. He didn't answer."  
  
"When was this?" Crawford asked.  
  
"When you were out getting the newspaper for him."  
  
"Oh, right before you had to go find that one file he wanted?"  
  
Schuldig's eyes narrowed. "Don't remind me."  
  
Nagi snickered. "At least he didn't make you polish his shoes." At Crawford's wince, his eyes widened. "He DIDN'T! Ok, at least he didn't make Farfie pick up his dry-cleaning."  
  
Farfie yelled from the his room, "He's going to get a nice surprise when he checks out what happened to his suits, too!" The man laughed. "Slashed suits hurt God."  
  
Nagi sighed. "Well at least the pay is good?" he asked weakly.  
  
Schuldig snorted. "Not good enough for this slave work."  
  
"We'll stay for a little while longer," Crawford decided. "But if it gets worse, we'll leave; the idiot already paid us." He paused for a moment. "By the way, Nagi, I stopped by the bank on the way home. You're grounded for two weeks for spending fifty dollars on a bunny and a board game."  
  
"BUT IT WAS THE KID!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"We won't do it," Aya said firmly, moving a pot of geraniums to the back room to be repotted. "YOJI! GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OVER HERE!"  
  
"It's not my fault you're wearing me out!" the older man grumbled in response.  
  
Alex firmly blocked her thought process. "Look, I don't care about your sex life. I just want you to help me find my daughter."  
  
"What do you think we could do?" Aya said coldly. "We're florists, not superheroes." He walked into the back room, passing Omi on the way and leaving Alex in the shop with the seventeen-year-old and Ken.  
  
"No duh you're not superheroes, you're assassins," the woman grumbled. Ken dropped the cactus he was carrying.  
  
"WHAT did you say?!"  
  
"Don't act so surprised. Manx isn't Persia's only confidant." She fiddled with her watch. "But I was being stupid; of COURSE Aya-kun wouldn't help. Jerk."  
  
Omi stared, pointing at her with his jaw hanging open. "… You do realize Persia's dead, right?"  
  
"He DIED?!" She blinked in surprise. "Poor Manx…. When did this happen?"  
  
" 'Poor Manx'?" Ken inquired.  
  
"About three months ago," Omi informed her.  
  
"Hm… I'd been thinking things were awfully quiet before I left…"  
  
" 'POOR MANX'?!" Ken demanded again.  
  
"Uh… You really wouldn't want to know."  
  
"Manx had a crush on Persia," Omi stated.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Omi sighed. "I'll explain later."  
  
Aya stormed back into the room. "WHAT DID I JUST HEAR?"  
  
"You mean over yours and Yoji's sex noises?" Alex asked innocently. "That would just be that I'm not a complete imbecile. Besides, who WOULDN'T think that you killed people? You practically do it even when you're NOT working…"  
  
Aya's eyes narrowed. "…Fine. Since you're too big of a figure to die quietly, we'll help you if you're attacked. That's it."  
  
"Well, a defense-alliance is all I can get, then fine. Thank you for your KIND support in my time of trouble." Alex turned and stalked out of the shop.  
  
Omi turned to Aya, furious. "AYA-KUN!!! How could you DO something like that? She just lost her kid!"  
  
"Not really. She's still alive, and she'll probably get a ransom note soon."  
  
"And if she doesn't get one? Not all people want ransom!"  
  
"Omi, just because your father wouldn't pay your ransom doesn't mean that she won't." With that final shot, Aya left. Omi stood in the middle of the store, trying to hold back tears.  
  
"Omi? Are you ok?" Ken asked softly.  
  
Omi nodded, forcing a smile. "Yeah. I'll just go out for a little while, ok, Ken-kun? I need some fresh air."  
  
Ken nodded. "I'll get Yoji to take over your shift." Omi gave him a weak smile.  
  
"Arigato, Ken-kun. I'll be back in a few hours."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"That stupid bastard! Just because I spent fifty dollars on the kid does NOT give him the right to ground me for two weeks! Who cares if it was his money! It's not like he wouldn't have done the same thing in my place!" Still ranting internally, Nagi walked into the computer store, having bribed Schuldig into letting him go. He stalked over to the games section, and walked right into Omi.  
  
"Hey, watch where you're… Nagi?! What are you doing here?!"  
  
"Getting away from my stupid teammates. You?"  
  
"Same here, but I meant in England. What happened?"  
  
"Too much stuff to talk about here. How about we go somewhere else? There's too many people for me to rant."  
  
Omi nodded. "Yeah. Come on, I found this really cool park. We can go there." Nagi followed the older boy to the park, still seething over Crawford.  
  
"Ok, so what happened? I thought you guys were pretty close."  
  
"Yeah, before I got blamed for spending HIS money, even though he would have done the same thing in my place! And the other two didn't say anything either! Not that Schuldig would, and Farfie was kind of busy, but that's not the point. It was only fifty dollars. It's not like he can't spare the money!" Nagi's fists clenched. "I'm grounded for two weeks, no computer, no pay."  
  
Omi winced. "Ow. Well, at least he didn't rub salt into an old wound."  
  
Nagi looked up, distracted from his problems. "What happened to you?"  
  
"Aya-kun decided to bring up the fact that my father didn't care enough to try to keep me alive."  
  
Nagi blinked. "How did THAT come up? Kidnapping or ransom are not exactly common topics of conversation."  
  
"There's this woman, a friend from Japan, whose daughter was kidnapped. She asked us to help her find the girl, but Aya-kun turned her down. And I was RIGHT THERE! You'd think he could at least take her somewhere else, instead of just saying 'no' right then. And when I tried to get him to change his mind, he said, and I quote, 'Omi, just because your father wouldn't pay your ransom doesn't mean that she won't.' How harsh is that?"  
  
Nagi looked worried. Shoot. Oh well, at least Weiss isn't involved in this. Except they sort of are, since they're friends with the target. Aloud, he asked, "Are you ok?"  
  
Omi sighed. "Yeah. I was really mad at first, but I think I've calmed down since then."  
  
"So, does your friend have any idea who kidnapped her kid?"  
  
"I think so, but I'm not sure. Why? Are you guys involved in this?"  
  
"No, but I feel bad for the kid. I know what it's like to lose your parents."  
  
"Yeah, but Aya-chan never knew her father."  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Don't know. She didn't tell us anything, except that she's a single parent."  
  
"So she's divorced?"  
  
"No, she said that she wasn't divorced." Omi shrugged. "Either way, it's not my business. So, back to your problems. If you're grounded, how are you out here?"  
  
"I bribed Schuldig. I said I wouldn't bother them when they're having sex. For the entire two weeks." Nagi made a face. "So, I said that I needed a better sound card for my headphones so I can block them out."  
  
Omi laughed. "Poor Nagi. Why don't you just sleep with the insane guy, what's-his-name?"  
  
"NO! Farfie's a friend, nothing more."  
  
"You thought I meant something more?" Omi asked, his eyes widening innocently.  
  
Nagi rolled his eyes. "Please. That might work on your teammates, but I can use the same look MUCH better. Remember, I'm younger than you." Omi glared at him.  
  
"Well, I've had more practice."  
  
"But you're not as cute as me." Nagi grinned at his friend.  
  
"Then why am I the one with all the girls falling over me?"  
  
"Because I'm not in school anymore, so you lost your competition. Besides, weren't you dating that Ken guy?"  
  
Omi blushed. "Shut up! That's none of your business!"  
  
Nagi laughed, seeing he had hit a nerve. "Soooo…how far have you two gone?"  
  
Omi choked. "You're almost as bad as Yoji-kun!" Nagi smirked, then looked at his watch.  
  
"Damn time limit," he muttered to himself. "I've got to go. Crawford will be back soon, and I'll be grounded for another two weeks if he finds me gone. Ja!"  
  
"Ja!" Omi followed him, and took careful note of where the other boy was staying, then turned and headed back to the flower shop.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Tadaima!" Nagi called.  
  
"Okaeri!" Aya called back enthusiastically. She ran forward and wrapped her arms around his legs. "Why were you gone?" She pouted up at him.  
  
"Shh! Don't tell Crawford!" he whispered to her. "It's a secret, just between us, ok?"  
  
" 'Kay!" She pouted again. "But why did you take so long?"  
  
Seeing Schuldig enter the room, he said, "Well, I saw an old friend of mine. From Weiss." Schuldig jumped. You need to tell Crawford without telling him that it was me who found out. The German nodded.  
  
"Aya-chan, why don't I make dinner for you?" Schuldig suggested.  
  
Nagi laughed. "What are you trying to do, kill her? She's used to normal food, not your disgusting German junk!"  
  
Schuldig glared at him. "At least the food that I make gives her energy. You know, before I came to Japan, I couldn't understand how you were all so small. It's because you people don't eat enough! Aya-chan will grow to be a big, strong girl, won't you?"  
  
"Farf-nii-chan? I'm hungry, and they won't give me any food."  
  
"Awwww, poor Aya-chan. Well, giving kids blended food hurts God." The Irishman walked into the kitchen, the child following trustingly, leaving the other two to stare after him for the second time that day.  
  
Breaking the silence, Nagi commented, "Well, at least he mentioned 'hurting God' this time. He's going back to normal."  
  
"If you can call Farfie 'normal'," Schuldig replied. "I wonder what Irish people eat?"  
  
"Don't be stupid, Schuldig. He's SAID he's giving her blended food." True to his words, they both heard the blender whirring in the background, and then Aya's voice saying, "Wow, Farf-nii-chan! This cucumber-tomato-apple- grape-bread-frosting-coffee-spinach-pizza-brussels sprouts-paper shake is really good!"  
  
"FARFIE! Are you trying to kill the poor thing?!" Crawford yelled from the doorway, having entered the apartment in time to catch the litany of ingredients.  
  
A silver head popped out of the kitchen. "Blenders hurt God." He disappeared back into the kitchen, just before Crawford threw Nagi's shoe at the psycho. "Thrown shoes hurt God too!" came the raspy voice.  
  
Then came the question that Schwarz had been dreading: "Farf-nii-chan, why do you hate God so much?" The other three members of Schwarz ran into the kitchen, where Farfie's eyes had begun to gleam insanely. Nagi grabbed the Irishman and dragged him backwards into his room, shoving him into a straitjacket, while the other two pulled Aya into the farthest corner away from Farfie. Aya looked at them, puzzled. "Why did you take away Farf-nii- chan, Cawfford?"  
  
"Because 'Farf-nii-chan' is very…sick…and he might get you sick too."  
  
"Oh." Aya frowned for a moment, then brightened. "Then we have to help Farf- nii-chan get better! Tou-chan always makes me and Mommy and Yu-chan yakimochi* when we're sick."  
  
"Wouldn't you call her 'Kaa-san'?" Schuldig asked curiously.  
  
"Kaa-san, Mommy, they're all the same!" Aya said cheerfully, climbing on the counter to get the ingredients she'd need. Crawford grabbed her and carried her over to the door.  
  
"Schu-nii-chan and I will make the yakimochi. You can just stay there." He stood back and judged the distance between Aya and the oven. "On the other hand, that's still too close to the oven. You can go out and wait in the living room."  
  
As the door closed, Aya heard Schuldig say softly, "Why Bradley, you were just trying to get alone with…OW! Don't hit me with the spatula! What did I do?! Hey! Put that down! BRAAAAAAD!!!!" Aya snuck around to the other door, and stood behind Crawford, who was next to the oven, staring up at him as he threatened Schuldig with a spatula.  
  
"Cawfford? Why did you want to be alone with Schu-nii-chan? Don't you like me?"  
  
"AH! Get out of here! You're too close to the oven!" The American waved the spatula in the air wildly with distress. "Get out! OUT!"  
  
Aya's eyes grew wobbly with tears. As they spilled down her cheeks, Schuldig scolded Crawford. "Bradley! How could you?! What kind of man are you?! I KNEW you'd be a terrible father! I refuse to have your kids!" The German tightened his arms around the girl, maneuvering her away from the oven easily.  
  
"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE MY KIDS, YOU'RE A GUY!" the man shouted back.  
  
"They can do WONDERS with genetics these days, Bradley!" Schuldig shot back. Crawford paled. "But still, how DARE you yell at Aya-chan?! Being alone isn't worth it!"  
  
"She was too close to the f… frigging oven!"  
  
"Bradley, LANGUAGE!"  
  
"Nagi, I'm the only one who can call him that!" Schuldig protested. Crawford threw up his hands in angry defeat and stalked into his bedroom. "Aya-chan, go cheer him up. We'll make you food."  
  
Aya peeked into Crawford's bedroom. "Cawfford? You 'k?" Crawford glanced up from his newspaper and grunted, then looked back down. Aya hesitated. That was the signal Kaa-san used whenever she didn't feel like playing. But maybe Cawfford was different? He was much nicer than Kaa-san was. He even played tag with me! With that logic, she stepped into the room. "Cawfford? I'm sorry I made you mad…I didn't mean to, but Tou-chan always lets me use the oven, so I didn't think it was bad…Gomen," she finished, looking down.  
  
Crawford sighed. "It's ok, Aya-chan. It's just that you remind me of my little sister."  
  
"Where is she?" Aya asked naively.  
  
Crawford winced. "…She died a while ago." Because I was too stupid to warn her.  
  
"Oh. Warn her about what?" Crawford stared at the innocent girl before him. Did I say that aloud?  
  
"No. You thinked it. I heard it. I hear Tou-chan a lot too. But not Yu- chan. I wonder why?"  
  
"You…you heard my thoughts?" When Aya nodded, he groaned and sat down on the bed. "Aya-chan, how long have you been able to hear other people's thoughts?"  
  
"Since forever and ever and ever." Aya said, spreading her arms as far as they could go to symbolize the length of time.  
  
"Sh…oot. SCHULDIG!!!" The German looked in, covered with flour.  
  
"Yes? I'm a little busy here, if you couldn't tell."  
  
The kid can sense thoughts. Did you know this?  
  
Sort of. She read the chibi's thoughts when they were shopping.  
  
Did you think to test her?  
  
"Ne, Cawfford? Schu-nii-chan? Why are you talking 'bout me withou' telling me? That's very rude." Both men stared at her.  
  
Crawford finally looked away. "NAGI! Take Aya-chan out to the ice cream store or something!" A groan was heard from the kitchen, then Nagi yelled back something about an exploding oven.  
  
"WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY OVEN?!!!" Crawford yelled.  
  
"Nothing. I said…something that shouldn't be said around Aya-chan. Come on, Aya-chan, let's go."  
  
As the two left, Crawford and Schuldig began to discuss different methods of training the girl.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"I'm back, Ken-kun! Yoji-kun!" Omi called as he entered the flower store. "Aya-kun, we need to talk."  
  
"The worst words in a relationship," Yoji whispered to Ken, who nodded. Stopping Aya on his walk toward Omi, the older man said, "In case you die right now, I love you. And believe me, I will try to move on with my life."  
  
"Thanks," Aya responded dryly. "What do you want, Omi?"  
  
"Schwarz is in London," the teenager informed him. "Nagi said they didn't have anything to do with any kidnapping… But they're still a possibility."  
  
"And you want me to do what about that?"  
  
"Tell Seika-san," Omi replied tightly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Seeing a possible explosion in the shop, Ken hastily intervened. "Omi, I'll go tell her, ok? Give me the address where Alex lives and where Schwarz lives. Why don't you go get something to eat? You must be hungry, you haven't eaten since breakfast, and it's almost five." Without waiting for a reply, the former soccer player walked out the door. Omi and Aya looked at each other, until Omi turned away and, without another word, walked inside the apartment at the back.  
  
"You're in a bad mood today. What's wrong?" Yoji asked, calmly lighting a cigarette.  
  
"Today is the day my sister was hit by a car."  
  
"…Oh."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ken knocked loudly on the apartment door. A blonde man opened the door. "Who are you?!" he demanded suspiciously. "What do you want?!"  
  
"Um… I'm looking for Seika-chan," the brunette said hesitantly. "Um… Did I get the right apartment?"  
  
"Seika? Who the hell is Seika?"  
  
"That'd be me, Draco. And it's Ken at the door; let him in, he's a friend," Alex called from the living room.  
  
Ken walked in, edging past the man who had opened the door and was still glaring at him. "You had a party and you didn't invite Yoji. He's going to be so disappointed," he commented as he surveyed all the people in the room.  
  
"Ken, this is Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, their son John, Touya, and Yukito. Everyone, this is Ken. He's another friend from Japan."  
  
"How many friends DO you have from Japan?!" Ron asked exasperatedly.  
  
Alex began to count off on her fingers. "There's Seishirou-san, Toya, Yuki, Ken-kun, Omi-kun, Yoji-san, and Aya-baka… I think that's it."  
  
Ken blinked at the suffix given to Aya. "Well…um, I came because Omi met a friend who he thinks might have had something to do with Aya-chan's kidnapping."  
  
"And he's still friends with him?!"  
  
"I think they're lab partners or something. Either that, or they're in the same computer club. One or the other."  
  
"Oh, Omi-kun's probably dating him behind your back."  
  
"…Somehow, I don't think that's very likely. Anyway, like I was saying, they're an…they're freelance bodyguards who do some…other work on the side. Omi's friend says they didn't have anything to do with it, but I don't know how trustworthy his word is and neither does Omi."  
  
Alex groaned. Assassins suck. "So, do you have any way I could talk to this bodyguard group?"  
  
Ken handed her a piece of paper with the address written on it. Alex smiled evilly. "Thanks, Ken-kun. I REALLY appreciate this."  
  
"Ah…Seika-chan, you DO realize that they might not have anything to do with this, right?"  
  
"Of course. Don't worry. I won't kill them IMMEDIATELY. I'll ask questions first." Ken stared at her, then carefully backed away.  
  
"Well, I'll see you later, Seika-chan. Ja!"  
  
"Some assassin you are," Alex muttered under her breath. Then, she turned to the others and grinned. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get your stuff! We have to be…" she looked down at the paper, "…two floors up and three apartments down."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A strange group of people stood in front of apartment 606. Three Englishmen, two Japanese men and two English women glared at the door, as if trying to pierce it with their eyes alone. Finally, the shorter woman stepped forward and knocked. No answer. She tried again. Still no answer.  
  
"Damn. They're not home."  
  
"Well, try sensing for them. You can do that, right?" asked the red-haired man.  
  
"Yeah. Hang on, let me try." There was a short pause, then the woman shook her head. "Nothing. Well…it's kind of weird. It's…blank is the best word I can come up with."  
  
"Well, if no one's there, shouldn't it be?" asked the other woman.  
  
"It's usually EMPTY instead of BLANK. Oh well. It doesn't matter." Alex sighed. "We can just leave a note on the door."  
  
"Why don't we just break down the door?" Harry commented, he and Draco holding out their wands.  
  
"You idiots. Do YOU want to try doing that without the Muggles noticing?" Hermione snapped.  
  
"She has a point." Alex muttered, not looking up from the note she was writing.  
  
"Well, I say we break in, see if they have Aya, and then leave." Touya said angrily, glaring at the door as if it was his sister's boyfriend.  
  
"All of you, be quiet. We're leaving a note with our number, and they can call us back if they know anything." Alex said, sticking the note on the doorknob.  
  
"If THEY'RE the ones who kidnapped her, they WON'T call back."  
  
"So, we'll know that they kidnapped her and we can go confront them." Yuki replied in a calm voice. The rest of the males in the group grumbled, but allowed themselves to be led away.  
  
Inside the apartment:  
  
"What idiots." Schuldig said, listening to the seven leave. "Thinking of breaking down the door."  
  
Nagi glared at the door from where he was sulking on the couch. "I don't see why we can't just give her back. We have the money."  
  
"Yes, but if we get ransom from the mom, we'll have even MORE money." Schuldig said logically.  
  
"What do I care? It's not like I'll get any of it."  
  
"Well, you shouldn't have spent so much of MY money." Crawford said, barely glancing up from his book.  
  
"You'd have done the same thing, and you know it. You always give in when I give YOU 'wobbly-eyes' as the brat calls them, why shouldn't I?"  
  
"Don't you DARE call her that!"  
  
"Why shouldn't I?! It's not like you can do anything else to me!"  
  
Schuldig looked between the two, inwardly laughing. Aw, poor Nagi feeling a little jealous?  
  
"SHUT UP, SCHU!" Schuldig recoiled, startled. The kid had never been that violent before.  
  
"Nagi! Calm down, I was just kidding! Look, why don't you eat something and then go to sleep? I'm betting you're exhausted." Nagi glared at the two men, then stalked into his room, slamming the door. Schuldig sat down on the couch.  
  
"You know, Bradley, I think he is jealous of Aya-chan."  
  
"Why would he be jealous? It's not like we can replace him with her."  
  
Schuldig sighed. "I don't think he's worried about that. It's called sibling rivalry. The older child is worried that the younger one will take away all the parents' attention and love, and lashes out at the younger child and parents. It's usually worst during the teenage years, when they're trying to find their own place in the world."  
  
Crawford stared at him. "You've been reading those psychology books again, haven't you?"  
  
"BRAD! You're missing the point! Nagi thinks that Aya-chan is taking up all of our time and attention, and if we're not careful he's going to lash out, most likely at her."  
  
"…Oh. So what can we do?"  
  
"Get rid of Aya-chan, for starters."  
  
Crawford stared at him.  
  
"Look, Brad, Aya-chan is a very sweet young girl, but we can't stay in England for the rest of our lives. We were assigned to Japan, and you know that. If we just send a ransom note to the mom, give the kid back and tell her who hired us, all our problems are solved. Simple."  
  
Crawford sighed. "You're right, but I don't want to give her back. She's so much like Michelle…." His voice trailed off. After a few minutes, he sighed. "BUT, we should call. What's the number?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*toasted mochi (rice cake) A/N: We don't know if these are hard or not to make, so we're just going to assume that Brad and Schu know how to make them, and Aya just stands by and watches. 


	9. Revealed

*Wails* My computer hates me! It's ALWAYS breaking down! *Sobs* Anyway, I wanted to thank my (few, but) cherished reviewers! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!  
  
NQ Serenity: Thanks! By now you've probably noticed that Sailor Moon isn't a part of the fanfic anymore, but I think Serena managed to be a tad bit of comic relief when she was present, ne?  
  
Lynda: Thank you as well! Angel and I really appreciate it! Because we have SO many anime in here, I'll give you a (hopefully) brief explanation at the end, ok? Ok.  
  
On with the story!  
  
  
  
Kousei  
  
By princessofplanets and Angel  
  
Email: princessofplanets@hotmail.com or taura12@hotmail.com  
  
1 Part: 9 / 10  
  
  
  
  
  
"THAT IS IT!!!" Nagi yelled as he walked into the apartment. "I'm sick and tired of being that fat guy's slave! AND I AM NOT TEN YEARS OLD!"  
  
"Really?" Schuldig inquired. "When was your birthday?"  
  
Nagi trembled with rage. "I am GOING to play on my computer now! AND DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO STOP ME!"  
  
Farfie and Aya stuck their heads out from the kitchen, covered in blended God-knows-what. "Nagi-nii-chan!" she exclaimed happily, racing toward the teenager and attaching herself to his legs.  
  
"Farfie, add some bleach and paint to the damn blender and get Aya," he snapped angrily, pointedly refraining from using a suffix, "back into the kitchen!"  
  
"We get to blend some more?" Aya asked hopefully. She grinned happily. "Yea! Come on, Farf-nii-chan! Les blend some more!"  
  
Nagi stormed out of the room. "Stupid brat can't even recognize an insult," he muttered darkly as he left for his computer.  
  
"You know, if he was a girl, I'd say he has PMS," Schuldig stated. "I don't know WHAT'S going on with him now."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"How dare he! Treating me like his personal slave! Just because I'm the youngest of us! What right does he have to do that?" Still grumbling to himself, Nagi sat down at his computer and glared at the screen, going over the events that had just occurred.  
  
***  
  
"You, kid!" Fudge ordered, glancing up from his desk in his sliced robes. "Go to Diagon Alley and get me some new robes!"  
  
"Who would sell things as stupid as what you're wearing?"  
  
Fudge rose menacingly, and Nagi glared up at him, standing up so he was just below the Minister's eye level. "Don't mess with me, boy. I'm a very powerful person."  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
"GET MY ROBES!"  
  
"No."  
  
"YES!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"YES!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"YES!"  
  
"Fine, you win. Where is this Diagon Alley place, and what size robes do you want?"  
  
"It's right next door, behind the Leaky Cauldron. Ask Tom. And size ninety- six."  
  
"…Right. Ok, see you!" Idiot. As if I'd actually get the right stuff for HIM.  
  
Nagi walked out, and turned into the pub. Immediately, he was surrounded with strange sounds, smells and people. Almost like when Schuldig decided to throw a party and do the cooking himself. Shaking his head, he walked over to the bar and asked if he could talk to Tom. An old, toothless man smiled over at him.  
  
"I'm Tom. What do you need, kid?"  
  
"Mr. Fudge told me to ask you how to get into a place called…Something-or- other Alley."  
  
"Diagon Alley?" Tom asked with a strange expression on his face.  
  
"Yeah! Could you tell me how to get in?"  
  
"Better, I'll take you myself. Come on, kid. Follow me." He led Nagi out the back door, and tapped a random brick with a strange stick. The wall formed an archway into a busy street, filled with people who, to Nagi's eyes, had a terrible fashion sense. "Here you are, kid. Diagon Alley. Was there a specific store he told…asked you to go to?"  
  
"He just said something about robes. Where would I go for that?"  
  
"Madame Malkin's would be your best bet for robes. It's on the right, four stores down."  
  
"Ok. Thank you!" Nagi walked off, an evil gleam in his eyes. Tom watched him go, shaking his head. I wonder why Fudge sent that kid to get his stuff? He doesn't seem like he knows what he's doing. Oh well. With that, he turned and walked back into the pub.  
  
Nagi entered the dark shop warily. "Hello, dear. Are you here to get your first year robes?" a woman in black robes nearly identical to Fudge's inquired politely.  
  
"Um, no, I'm here to get robes for…." He paused for a moment. Everyone seems to know who Fudge is, so… "My father. And my mother. My father needs size one hundred sixty seven. And my mother needs size twenty-five, please."  
  
Madame Malkin's eyes widened slightly, but she nodded. "How many and what colors, dear?"  
  
"Seven for each. Neon green for my father and bright pink for my mother, thank you."  
  
The woman nodded, looking slightly sick. "Did your parents give you their account number?"  
  
Nagi nodded and handed her the slip Fudge had given him previous to their argument. "When will they be ready?"  
  
"I have some in the back," she said. Which I couldn't sell. "If you just wait one moment I'll get them for you." Disappearing for a moment, when she reappeared, she was laden down with fourteen robes in black protectors.  
  
"Here you go, dear. Have a nice day!"  
  
"Thank you." Yeah, right. Have a nice day? While being a slave for that fat guy? I think not! Now to find other places where I can waste his money… Nagi grinned evilly.  
  
***  
  
Schuldig poked his head into Nagi's room, after he had established that the teen had calmed down. "What'd he make you do, chibi?" Nagi looked up from where he was busily mutilating his opponents on the computer.  
  
"Don't call me 'chibi'. I had to get his new robes." He smirked. "I wonder how they fit?"  
  
Schuldig raised an eyebrow. "Why? What size did you get?"  
  
"Twenty-five and one hundred sixty-seven. His original size was ninety- six." The German laughed.  
  
"A bit harsh, don't you think?"  
  
"No. He deserved it. I'm not his personal slave. I might have to work for him right now, but that doesn't give him any authority over me. He's not paying us enough to do slave work too."  
  
"That's true. I think that we should just give the kid back and tell her mom who hired us. And then sit back, and watch the fireworks." Nagi smiled at the thought.  
  
"I'll go return her now!"  
  
Schuldig placed a hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping the boy from dragging the child out the door. "Ok, Nagi? I understand that you're feeling a little jealous of Aya-chan taking away our attention, and I understand that teenagers are trying to become more like adults, but being an adult is not all about sleeping with me or Bradley."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Don't stop me! I just read this book on Freud! I'm applying his theories to you. Anyway, just because Aya-chan sleeps in our room does NOT mean we are having sex with her. BUT, if it'll make you feel better, you can always sleep with us after Aya-chan is gone."  
  
Nagi stared at him in horror. "…Tell me you were kidding."  
  
"You're a very cute boy, Nagi!"  
  
"Stay away from me!" he cried as he backed away from the older man.  
  
"But, Nagi!"  
  
"NO! OUT!"  
  
Schuldig left laughing. You KNOW it's just because you want me, right?  
  
Out of the teenager's room a chair came flying. Ducking it easily, he paled as Aya asked, "Wants you for what?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Alex paced by the phone, stumbling with the force of the coughs that overcame her. I'm not a patient person, I don't wait well, she thought in irritated tone to herself. I should be out looking for Aya with Draco- tachi. Not stuck in here by myself, though I am surprised they left me alone. Without warning, three sharp knocks came on the door, snapping her out of her thoughts.  
  
Who the hell… Doesn't EVERYONE know just to walk in by now?! she thought angrily to herself as she went to open the door. I can't leave the phone…  
  
She pulled open the door and froze in shock.  
  
"MOMMY! Hi! Guess what?!" Aya smiled up at her mother, entering the apartment while dragging a large bunny behind her with a Clue game tucked under her arm. Alex pulled her daughter into her arms.  
  
"Aya! Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened? Did anyone hurt you? Who brought you back?!"  
  
"I'm FINE, Kaa-san!" she exclaimed into her mother's shoulder. "I was with Cawfford-tachi! Nagi-nii-chan brought me back. And Schu-nii-chan made me food, and Farf-nii-chan let me play with the blender! He even let me push the buttons! Schu-nii-chan says that's a big thing for Farf-nii-chan. But I don't think it's that big. It's a very small blender. Mommy? Why are you crying?"  
  
"I'm fine, honey. I'm just happy that you're safe and you're back here. I have to call the others and tell them you're back." She picked up the phone, before remembering that none of them had cell phones. "Stupid Toya. I TOLD him to take his cell phone, but NOOOO!" And I can't risk using my magic right now. I'm a little too emotional at the moment. Well, who cares? I can spend some quality time with Aya before the rest of them come back.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"That little brat!" Fudge snarled, throwing yet another set of robes across the room. "What was he thinking? Fourteen robes and not ONE of them the right size OR color! I can't be seen in public with these on!" He threw himself down into his chair, which bent under his weight, and glared at his desk. "And where are those four? They were supposed to be here an hour ago to go shopping for groceries!" Just then, the door opened and all four members of Schwarz entered. "Where have you been? And where's that little ten-year-old brat of yours? That boy needs some serious discipline." Nagi chose that moment to enter the room. Fudge lunged for him, hand raised to strike him, but both Schuldig and Crawford grabbed him before he reached the teen.  
  
"Mr. Fudge! What do you think you're doing?!" Crawford snapped, pulling the older man back towards his desk. "What did Nagi do?"  
  
"What didn't he do?!"  
  
"Get paid. Have fun. Date. Drink. Smoke. Scre-" Nagi was cut off by Schuldig's hand over his mouth.  
  
"That little brat bought the wrong size robes in the most atrocious colors, AND he spent most of the money in my account!"  
  
"Nagi. Do you want to explain this?"  
  
"Can I swear?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then I can't explain it. I'm very sorry."  
  
"You're GOING to be."  
  
Crawford turned back to Fudge, who glared at Nagi again and then said, "Crawford, I think you really need to work on disciplining your son. And go return these robes and get me some new ones."  
  
Crawford stared at him in disgust, but before he could say anything, he was cut off by Schuldig. "Bradley, you have a son and you never told me? I'm wounded! I thought you trusted me!"  
  
"Shut up, Schuldig. Look, Mr. Fudge, I can understand if you're mad at Nagi for something that he did wrong that related to the job we were hired to do, but we were NOT hired to be your slaves. We just wanted to tell you that we quit."  
  
"WHAT?! You can't quit! You haven't received your money yet! You wouldn't leave without your money, would you?"  
  
"Normally, we wouldn't. However, we already kidnapped the child and you were stupid enough to pay us before we even started this job. So… sayonara."  
  
The four walked out, leaving Fudge to stare after them in shock. "But… But… Oh, shoot. Ms. Kingsley, go hire another group of assassins."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hermione's jaw dropped. "THE IDIOT PAID FOR PEOPLE TO KIDNAP AYA?!" she hissed angrily. Draco trembled with rage.  
  
"How DARE --- "  
  
Suddenly the door opened, and four men left the room. "I still can't believe that idiot paid us BEFORE we killed her," the red-haired man commented, laughing.  
  
"Either way, he did, so we're leaving now."  
  
"I don't think so," Harry said, blocking their path. Touya grabbed the black-haired man, while Hermione grabbed the smallest. Harry and Draco trapped the silver-haired man. Yukito started companionably chatting with the redhead, while Ron tightened his grip on the stranger.  
  
Farfie, Nagi, NO killing! Crawford ordered sternly.  
  
But CRAWFORD!  
  
Killing hurts God.  
  
NO, Farfie. Nagi, NO, or no more video games OR computer for a month. Nagi froze.  
  
"I am being very civil. I am NOT trying to hurt anyone!" he announced aloud.  
  
The others stared at him.  
  
"What?!" he demanded.  
  
Meanwhile, Schuldig was flirting with Yukito, much to Ron's disgust. "Schuldig, HOW do you expect to have my children if you're flirting with another guy every five seconds?" Crawford asked apathetically.  
  
"You want to have kids with your boyfriend too? So do I, but my boyfriend won't let me!" the grayish-black haired man commented. Touya blushed.  
  
"Aw, that's so cute!" Hermione commented. "You know, what you guys CAN do… I've been studying up on this, you see, for Draco…"  
  
"What do you mean?!" Harry asked, panicking. "We're not having kids, right?"  
  
Draco looked the other way and started whistling innocently.  
  
"Sodomy and men having children hurts God."  
  
"Nagi, did you give Farfie his medicine?" Crawford inquired.  
  
"Medicine? Farfie has medicine? Why wasn't I told about this?"  
  
"SCHULDIG! You were supposed to tell him!"  
  
"When did I find out?"  
  
"I told you last night!"  
  
"OH! After we --- "  
  
"Shut UP!"  
  
"It was fun, sleeping with Aya-chan last night!" Farfie commented.  
  
Six voices demanded, "WHAT?!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Again the door was pounded on. "COME IN!" Alex called.  
  
Muffled comments came from the hallway. "BANG!"  
  
"OUCH!"  
  
"Heads hitting doors hurts God!"  
  
"Forget hurting God, Farfie, and OPEN THE DA…RN DOOR!"  
  
"I can't. They're holding my arms. And making out. Men making out hurts God too."  
  
"DRACO! HARRY! STOP!" came Hermione's voice.  
  
Finally the group entered the living room. "CAWFFORD! SCHU-NII-CHAN! FARF- NII-CHAN! NAGI-NII-CHAN!" Aya ran forward and threw herself at Crawford.  
  
"Oomph."  
  
"See? Isn't he a natural?" Schuldig said to Yukito.  
  
"I know. Toya's the same way. But will he let me have kids? Nooo! He says Aya's enough."  
  
"… My friends scare me," Alex muttered to herself, setting down the crayon she had been using as she stood weakly, forcing the world to stop spinning around her. "And you are?"  
  
"These are the people who kidnapped Aya."  
  
"We were TOLD to kill you, though, but we decided not to," Nagi said helpfully.  
  
"Nagi, shut up."  
  
"But – "  
  
"I don't want to hear it."  
  
"But-"  
  
"I can take away your computer. It must be worth something."  
  
"But, Cawfford, I like playing on Nagi-nii-chan's computer! It's a nice computer!"  
  
"…Since when has Aya-chan been playing on my computer?"  
  
"Uh…."  
  
"CRAWFORD! Have you been playing my video games again?!"  
  
"'Again'? Bradley, why didn't you tell me this?"  
  
"All of you shut up, and tell me what's going on!" Alex shouted over the argument.  
  
"Sorry. I'm Schuldig. This is Bradley, Nagi and Farfie. We were hired to kill you, but were then told to kidnap your daughter, but she's really sweet so we decided to return her to you. Bradley wanted to keep her, but we had a pretty severe case of sibling rivalry going on so…"  
  
Nagi glared at him. "I'm not jealous of Aya!"  
  
"No one said you were, Nagi. Now, why don't you play with some crayons?" Schuldig asked in a placating tone.  
  
The blonde was attacked by coughs. "Just don't blend them. I spent at least fifteen minutes cleaning up THAT mess," she said hoarsely. "Who did she pick that up from?"  
  
"Blending crayons hurts God."  
  
"Yes, Aya said something along those lines too. Something about making the blender work."  
  
"It's a voice-activated blender. Farfie programmed it. Or got Nagi to program it. One or the other. The 'hurts God' part activates it."  
  
Alex stared at them. Ok, this is supposed to be the group that Omi and Ken were so worried about? she thought, her head thick with dizziness and a headache.  
  
Hey, we're usually much colder than this, but it's vacation. We have a right to relax, too, you know.  
  
Alex jerked. "Who said that?"  
  
You have three guesses.  
  
"Stop that!" She sent a warning burst of power back along the psychic line, only to get a sardonic chuckle in response.  
  
"Alex?" Hermione asked, worriedly. "Are you ok?"  
  
"I will be as soon as this stupid voice gets out of my head!"  
  
"Seika?" Touya inquired.  
  
Schuldig laughed. With someone of your powers, you'd think you'd be used to this. And you should probably learn to shield your thoughts, unless you want your daughter picking them up.  
  
I haven't met anyone with the same psychic level, she responded, allowing her irritation to seep into the conversation. Then the rest of what he said hit her. "What? Aya can read thoughts?" Alex stared at the red-haired man in front of her. "When did you find this out?"  
  
"When Nagi bought her the rabbit."  
  
"…Riiiight."  
  
"She actually thanked Bradley when he got home, which Nagi had been thinking, since he used Bradley's money."  
  
"Which reminds me, you're still grounded."  
  
Nagi looked up from his drawing of a dead, blood covered body. He looked back down and labeled it, "Crawford" in neat hiragana*. "PLEASE?!"  
  
"No."  
  
"But – "  
  
"No."  
  
"Bradley, you need to go to a parental class. Nagi, you may be a teenager, but you REALLY need to grow up." Nagi went back to drawing another dead body, labeling it "Schuldig".  
  
"You wonder why I don't want kids," Harry told Draco.  
  
"WHY?"  
  
Harry sighed. "I'll explain later."  
  
"But I want to know NOW!" he whined.  
  
"We don't need any more kids, Draco, we have you!"  
  
There was a long silence. "HEY!"  
  
Alex rolled her eyes. "Stupid mushy couples."  
  
Touya grinned evilly. "YUUUUKKIIII!"  
  
"Not until you say we can have kids! I want a COMMITMENT, Toya!"  
  
"We already did the bonding ceremony thingy that you wanted me to do!"  
  
"Well, I want another one!"  
  
Well, if you want a mushy couple... Schuldig thought to Alex, "Oh, BRAADLEEEY!"  
  
"No. Not in front of the kids."  
  
"Which ones?"  
  
"All three of them."  
  
"Who's the third?"  
  
"Farfie."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Well, we shouldn't do it in front of Nagi or Aya-chan either!"  
  
"Nagi wanted to join us!"  
  
"WHAT?! No I didn't!"  
  
Alex sighed, massaging her temples. For heaven's sake, shut up! she sent to the three. No one cares! "Fudge is your employer, correct? You're the ones I saw at his office?"  
  
Crawford nodded. "Bastard," the blonde woman muttered.  
  
He is, isn't he? Schuldig inquired sardonically.  
  
"Don't get me wrong, you're bastards too," Alex shot back. "But most assassins are. With the exception of Ken-kun and Omi-kun…." She thought for a moment. "Yoji-san can be a bastard sometimes too, but that's mainly with his player qualities." She shook her head violently to rid herself of it's confusion. "I'm getting off track. Damn, this is going to be difficult! Then again, Fudge isn't nearly as powerful as Voldemort, so at least I won't be in a backlash-induced coma for months afterward."  
  
She sighed again, digging her cold fingers into the tense muscles in her neck. "I'm too YOUNG for this!" she murmured to herself. "Or maybe it's too old?  
  
"Aya? Stay here with Toya-tachi, ok?" she said wearily. "I have to go out for a little while. But I'll be back soon, ok?"  
  
"O…Ok, Mommy!"  
  
"WHAT? I WANT TO HELP YOU KILL THAT GUY!" Touya exclaimed.  
  
"No, Toya."  
  
"Seika…"  
  
"Look, Toya, I'm not leaving my daughter with a group of assassins again, no matter how much she may like them."  
  
"Demo, Kaa-san…!"  
  
"PLEASE. You'd be most helpful here; I wouldn't want to accidentally hurt you. You know as well as I do that the last time I used magic to this degree was with Voldemort – "  
  
"Mommy, who's 'Voldiemor'?" Aya asked innocently.  
  
"He's a very bad person, but he died a long time ago, before you were even born," Alex explained tiredly.  
  
"Is he badder than Schu-nii-chan? I heard Cawfford say he was 'e'il' one night, then Nagi-nii-chan said hes was bwad!"  
  
"Much worse than even 'Schu-nii-chan'." I REFUSE to think ANYTHING! Chuckling in her head was her only reply.  
  
"Yu-chan said Voldiemor was my Ojii-san."  
  
Alex bit her lip, quickly shielding her thoughts. SHIT!  
  
Schuldig raised an eyebrow. "This should be interesting…"  
  
"He's not your grandfather."  
  
"Yu-chan was LYING?!" Aya's eyes grew wide in shock.  
  
"No, it's just more complicated then what Yuki explained to you. I… I don't know how to put it in words right now. I'll talk to you about it later, ok? I have to go deal with Fudge."  
  
"Ok, Mommy. You'll be back soon, right?"  
  
"Of course," she whispered, pulling her daughter into her embrace. Feeling the new sensation of a person digging around in her head, she violently shoved energy down the psychic line, making Schuldig reel back in surprise.  
  
Stay the fuck out of my head! she hissed angrily, making sure to keep her thoughts with the redhead private. If you did so much rummaging you know I don't swear; DON'T do it again.  
  
Interesting, the German responded. You killed your own creator…. And at fifteen, too.  
  
Shut the fu—  
  
Temper, temper! Schuldig said patronizingly. And you say you don't normally talk like this?  
  
I don't normally have my daughter stolen from me, either! Alex shot back. She bit her lip, forcing back her temper and getting her thoughts under control at once. "I'm going to see Fudge. It's about time someone take him out of the Ministry anyway."  
  
"What are you going to do?" Draco inquired.  
  
"I'm not sure," the blonde said finally.  
  
"But you have an idea?"  
  
"I'll either fight him or threaten to ruin his reputation if he doesn't leave office."  
  
"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Hermione asked hesitantly. "I mean, kidnapping Aya was horrible; no one can disagree with that. But don't you think…"  
  
"He also paid people to attempt to kill me, and it's not the first time he's tried to do so. He tried to kill me after the incident with Voldemort, remember?"  
  
Hermione was silent. "Still," Alex murmured to herself. "It makes me wonder why he hates me so much."  
  
"He doesn't hate you!" Ron protested weakly.  
  
"No," Schuldig agreed. "He just dreams about murdering you and obsesses over seeing your blood spilled over the street."  
  
Could you please find out why? Alex projected.  
  
Sure. A long silence ensued.  
  
WELL?!  
  
Oh, you wanted to KNOW the information?!  
  
SCHULDIG!  
  
Hey, I don't take orders from you!  
  
Schuldig, tell me, please, you KNOW I don't think probing people's minds is right! Alex protested.  
  
So?  
  
"Schuldig," she managed finally, thinking, I hate to pull this line, "Do you know how strong I am?" She mentally peeled off her inner shields, praying none of the assassins would do anything to set off her magic.  
  
"Shit!" the German breathed.  
  
"What?" Crawford demanded. Schuldig stared at Alex, grudging respect in his eyes.  
  
Her shields were a lot more powerful then we thought they were. I didn't even think it was possible for a creature to hold half as much magic, let alone actually be able conceal and control it! He was silent for a moment. I can only imagine how much control she was using to only break the windows… It would also explain those fits she's been having.  
  
What?  
  
She uses her own energy to control the power, and it's causing a hormonal imbalance, so she goes into depressions and gets physically ill after she uses it. When she killed that Voldemort guy she used massive amounts of the energy; she actually died for a moment before another creature of magic touched her and ignited her powers.  
  
Crawford frowned, examining the woman in disbelief. She doesn't look old enough. Schuldig shrugged.  
  
Either way, that's what happened. Does Nagi look old enough to be an assassin?  
  
"And you guys… If you want food, drinks, whatever, get Yuki to get it for you. I don't feel like being a murderer any more, and while you've broken more than enough laws to get you thrown in jail {gaol}, that would make Aya sad, and that's the last thing I want." Alex looked at Schuldig warningly. But don't you DARE make me test my patience with you by using my daughter again.  
  
Sibling rivalry, the German said again. We need Nagi, we don't need Aya.  
  
"Good," Alex replied. "Then this never happened. Please excuse me while I find some way to make Fudge pay dearly."  
  
  
  
  
  
*Since there are no real kanji characters for "Crawford" or "Schuldig", their names, in Japanese, would have to be written in hiragana, or the Japanese syllables.  
  
Lynda: Starting with the main characters… (There may be spoilers in here for people who do know the anime Card Captor Sakura, Wei( Kreuz, and Tokyo Babylon well!)  
  
Kinomoto Touya and Tsukishiro Yukito – These two characters are from an anime called Card Captor Sakura. Basically, from what I've seen and read (first season anime and manga, and fanfiction), Touya and Yukito are best friends. Sakura, Touya's younger sister, has a crush on Yukito, and when she finally tells him, he's flattered, but says he likes someone else. She asks if it's her brother, he says yes. At previous points in the manga (probably the anime, too, they follow each other very closely), Touya comes very close to telling his feelings for Yukito (there are tons of cute pictures of them together, if you want I could send you some if you e-mail me). Truthfully, though, I don't know if they ever admit their feelings for each other. But they're a VERY cute couple! (" 'What is your most common method of demonstrating affection?' '*Most* common?… he cooks for me…. Well, it's very affectionate for him! …It takes him a great effort of will to wait for me to come home, before eating!…' …Yukito holds up his card. *I cook for To-ya, and wait for him before eating.* " An excerpt from "Botan and Koenma's CLAMP Newlyweds Game" by Talya Firedancer, I DEFINITELY recommend it for anyone who wants to read about a humor story about CLAMP's couples.)  
  
Weiss and Schwarz – These eight assassins are from an anime called Wei( Kreuz, which has been described as "eye candy". Why? Who knows. ^_^. Anyway, in Wei(, Aya, Yoji, Ken, and Omi all come from weird, screwed up pasts. I feel REALLY sorry for Omi especially. *Sad face.* Aya's sister, as we said before, was hit by Takatori (in a car) and is in a coma, and Takatori also killed his parents, so Aya hates all people related to Takatori with a vengence. Yoji… I don't know much about Yoji's past, other than he used to be really close to this girl he ended up killing. Ken was a pro soccer player, but was kicked off the team when they "found out" he was doing drugs, though he had been framed by his best friend, who ended up trying to kill him. And Omi probably has the most screwed up past. He was born Takatori Mamoru (Mamoru Takatori), but his "father" (the Takatori who screwed with Aya's life) hired people to kidnap him, and refused to pay the ransom. He almost lost his life, except for the fact that his TRUE father, who was his "father's" brother and also Persia, his boss, saved him. He was renamed Omi, and he eventually joined Wei(. As for Schwarz, the bodyguards of Takatori and the enemies of Wei( and who ALSO have screwed up lives, the story is up for interpretation. One of the main ones is that Nagi killed his parents when he was young with his uncontrolled powers; Farfie (Farfello) was a very religious person until his whole family died, and he reasoned that if God was cruel enough to take away his family, then he would be cruel to God; Schuldig, which translates into "Guilty" is basically a player who can read everyone's thoughts whether he wants to or not, and has a past of being a whore. Crawford is the leader and a stoic person who can see the future.  
  
Serena – Based of a terrifying combination between the ditzy Serena/Usagi from Sailor Moon and Dee Dee from Dexter's Lab. Originally she was going to be part of the plot, then around chapter seven we got the idea for a REAL plot, so… ^_^  
  
Sakurazukamori Seishirou, Sumeragi Subaru, and Sumeragi Hokuto – Except Hokuto, these are very difficult characters to write, almost as hard as Wei( characters, who we're screwing up entirely. ^_^. From the anime Tokyo Babylon and X, Seishirou is a cold hearted, emotionless assassin, the Sakurazukamori, paid by the government to kill people who are a threat to Japan. Subaru is the thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan, who are enemies with the Sakurazukamori clan. When Seishirou was fifteen he made a bet with six-year-old Sumeragi Subaru (Subaru Sumeragi) that within a year's time he couldn't make the assassin feel. At the end of the year, when he reveals his true identity, he loses his eye attempting to protect Subaru; Subaru goes into a self-induced coma; Hokuto confronts Seishirou and asks him to kill her, which he does; and Subaru wakes up at his sister's death and begins to live again in a FAR more depressed state. In X, Subaru ends up killing Seishirou, becoming the assassin the Sakurazukamori and having his wish granted to be just like Seishirou, meaning he lost his eye. DARK doesn't begin to describe this anime or Wei( Kreuz.  
  
I think that's all. It's not short, but it should be useful for anyone who doesn't know the anime. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! 


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